Jane Hume says Sussan Ley is a good person – but it’s time for her to go.
‘I’ll be supporting Angus Taylor’s candidacy and I’ll also be putting my own hand up for the role of deputy leader,’ Hume told Sunrise host Nat Barr.
‘We are sitting at a crossroads and we can’t sit idly by while we see our support erode.
‘This government is not doing a good job, its support isn’t increasing. People are feeling rightly aggrieved, but they’re not seeing an alternative from a Liberal opposition.
She described Ley as a ‘good person’ who has worked “incredibly hard in service of her party and her country’.
‘But when my colleagues and I go back to our electorates, people are telling us that they need something more.
She put Labor fear Taylor as a potential leader.
But Barr said Taylor did not prove himself while shadow treasurer prior to the 2025 election.
‘Can you honestly say that Angus Taylor socked it to the government on energy or the cost of living?’ Barr asked.
Hume hit back and described him as ‘one of the greatest intellects’.
‘The most important thing now is that we let him have an opportunity to develop the policies that he knows he wants to deliver for the Australian people,’ she said.
‘He has an incredible background and amazing academic history.
‘He’s a good man, a great liberal and he deserves an opportunity to lead.’
Ley has walked into the party‑room meeting flanked by her key supporters, including NSW moderate Senators Andrew Bragg and Maria Kovacic.
Shadow Attorney‑General Andrew Wallace, one of Ley’s most vocal backers, followed closely behind, along with Deputy Senate Leader Anne Ruston, Tim Wilson, and Melissa Price.
The mood inside Ley’s office is understood to be ‘dire,’ with staff privately conceding she is likely to lose the leadership within the hour.
One senior member of Ley’s team had reportedly clung to hopes last night that the contest was still a ‘coin‑flip.’
That optimism has since collapsed, with staff now joking grimly about ‘getting the shredder ready’ for documents.
