How a crushing defeat shifted factional power in the Liberal Party
All federal elections reshape power within political parties, but the Liberals’ devastation on May 3 has allowed Sussan Ley to transform the landscape.
In early February, moderate Liberal MPs met for dinner in The Gallery room of the East Hotel in Canberra to appoint new factional leadership.
Simon Birmingham, the man who spent five years leading the Liberal Party’s second-largest faction known as “the mods”, had announced his resignation in December and left the parliament early in the new year.
Ronald MizenPolitical correspondentRonald Mizen is the Financial Review’s political correspondent, reporting from the press gallery at Parliament House, Canberra. Connect with Ronald on Twitter. Email Ronald at ronald.mizen@afr.com
