The Liberal Party is officially on the look-out for a new leader after a pretty brutal 2025 election campaign saw Peter Dutton defeated in his Brisbane electorate (shout out to Dickson!). In case you missed it, it makes him the first opposition leader to lose his seat at a federal election.
According to the ABC, whoever succeeds to lead the Liberal party next will inherit the smallest party room in its modern history, with the final seat tally likely to sit at just around 25.
So, what are some of the names cropping up for leadership? And given the decisive loss, what have Coalition MPs said about where to go from here? Let’s break it down.
Who could the next Liberal leader be?
Many suggest shadow treasurer Angus Taylor was one of the first names to emerge as a contender after news of Dutton’s defeat. He’s been pretty front and centre throughout much of the campaign and remains one of the most senior Liberal frontbenchers. But, according to some insiders, it’s this association with the terrible result this year that could put him on the backfoot for leadership.
Meanwhile Opposition leader Sussan Ley — who served as a cabinet minister in the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments — could also put up a challenge. She has held the rural NSW seat of Farrer since 2001 and has often been viewed as a steady presence in the party.
Per the ABC, WA’s Andrew Hastie — the youngest of this group at 42 — has also been seen as a future Liberal leader. He was previously a soldier in the former Special Air Service (SAS) and served as Dutton’s shadow defence minister, in his only senior portfolio role so far. Fun fact: if he were to win, he’d be the first person from Western Australia to lead a major party since Labor’s Kim Beazley.
And wrapping up the list is shadow minister for immigration Dan Tehan, who you might honestly not have noticed much this election campaign, but he’s another long-served party member. He’s held defence and veterans affairs portfolios in the Turnbull government and was minister for education in the Morrison government.
Tehan is also the only one of these floated names to have address the crushing defeat so far, telling ABC’s election night broadcast it was too soon to consider the question. He’s held onto his own seat of Wannon in Victoria, after a hard-fought race against independent and former Triple J host, Alex Dyson.
“I haven’t had any time to think about the future … You need time to consider, time to think and get an understanding of what has occurred,” Tehan told the publication, adding there needed to be a “proper review of all the policies” in the “cold, hard light of day.”
What have other Coalition MPs said about the 2025 election result?
As the dust still settles on the 2025 federal election, the Coalition’s had to face up to possibly the worst result for a major party since federation.
Dutton conceded just after 9.30pm on Saturday, accepting “full responsibility” for the loss.
He confirmed he has spoken with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and congratulated him on his achievements in a rare display of comradery between the party leaders.
“Earlier, I called out the Prime Minister to congratulate him on his success tonight. It is an historic occasion for the Labor Party and we recognise that,” he said.
“I congratulated the Prime Minister and wished he Jodie and Nathan all the very best and I said to the Prime Minister that his mother would be incredibly proud of his achievement tonight and he should be proud of what he has achieved.”
Per the Guardian, Coalition MPs have described Saturday’s defeat as a “bloodbath” for the party. While Dutton lost his seat to Labor’s Ali France, the party is also on track to lose key frontbenchers like Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer (with notably no federal Liberals holding a single one of the state’s five lower house seats.)
Shadow housing minister and frontbencher Michael Sukkar was also defeated in Deakin by Labor’s Matt Gregg and Liberal frontbencher David Coleman was turfed out in Banks to Labor’s Zhi Soon.
One senior Liberal blamed the loss on poorly developed policies while another Liberal said the most important struggle would be a fight for the party’s “soul”, per the publication.
As reported by the ABC, Liberal MP Keith Wolahan — who is likely to lose his suburban seat of Menzies — said the party needed to rethink its approach to cities.
“It was clear [at the last election] that our party has an issue in urban Australia, which is where most people live … We need to acknowledge the cities that we live in are not the cities that we used to live in or think we live in,” he said.
NSW Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, who retained his spot in upper house, admitted the loss warranted “deep” retrospection.
“It was the toughest night for Liberals ever,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“The message from the electorate is clear. For the Liberal Party, the road back starts with a deeper understanding of modern Australia. We must offer an ambitious economic agenda and a centrist, inclusive social vision. Reclaiming enterprise and the centre is not a departure from our values — it’s a return to them.”
Honestly, it’s nothing short of a wake-up call for the Liberal party this election, so there’s going to be plenty of eyes watching which MP will step up to the post.
Lead image: Getty
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