Liberal leadership battle after record election defeat

Votes are still being counted in the ACT election but the Liberals are already bracing for a loss of leadership.

Former Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson launched an attack on the party’s leadership after incumbent Elizabeth Lee failed to topple the Green Labor Party government after 23 years of political exile.

“There was definitely a mood for change in this election and we failed to capitalize on it,” he told AAP on Monday.

With more than three-quarters of the votes counted, Labor is on track to form a government for a record seventh consecutive term in coalition with the Greens.

The Liberals are likely to gain one seat in the Brindabella electorate, taking their total to 10, but they were still 0.9 per cent behind as of Monday afternoon.

Mr Hanson stepped down as leader after losing the 2016 election. But the Liberals still managed to win 12 seats – the party’s highest result in the 25-seat Legislative Assembly – and 36.7 percent of the vote in this campaign.

Since then, the party’s vote share has fallen below a third.

Mr Hanson said he had the “experience, work ethic and ability” to reverse the trend.

A member of the Conservative faction of the Liberal Party, Mr Hanson opposed the 2023 referendum on Indigenous voices in Parliament.

Liberal insiders, speaking to AAP on condition of anonymity, questioned Mr Hanson’s suitability for the role given the ACT is the most progressive jurisdiction in the country.

The Liberals did not lose any right-wing votes, and most voters left the main parties and went instead to progressive independents.

Liberal moderate Mark Parton said it would be “patently ridiculous” for the party to target far-right voters in Canberra.

“I think the center is the only place we can win an election here,” he told ABC radio on Monday morning, before Mr Hanson announced his intention to challenge the leadership.

Mr Hanson said the party should not become embroiled in arguments over whether the leader should be a moderate or a conservative.

“This is the Labor Party’s version. We can’t get caught up in factional politics,” he said.

“We need to present a credible alternative party and a leader who can handle the pressures of being chief minister and has the experience and confidence to do so.”

Mr Hanson said he was not criticizing any of his colleagues but questions needed to be asked about why the Liberals’ campaign failed.

Ms. Lee could not be reached on Monday, but after the election she declined to say whether she would seek to remain in the leadership position.

“I don’t know what the future holds for me. Don’t ask. I won’t tell you,” she said Saturday night.

Mr Hanson was sacked as deputy leader of the Liberals in 2023, with some members raising concerns the party was moving too far to the right.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr told ABC News Breakfast on Monday that the Canberra Liberals were “the most right-wing branch of the Liberal Party in this country”.