Matt Kean, James Griffin won’t run to become Liberal party’s new leader
Liberal insiders have made a blunt assessment of the party’s prospects of filling Dominic Perrottet’s former role as the list of possible candidates shrunk further today.
State Election
Don't miss out on the headlines from State Election. Followed categories will be added to My News.
As the NSW Liberal Party scrambles for its next leader, insiders and experts have dubbed it the job “no one wants”.
The vacancy comes after Dominic Perrottet resigned on Saturday night amid a Coalition election bloodbath.
Putting it bluntly, one Liberal Party insider simply said: “It’s not a good time to be opposition leader right now.
“You don’t want to be the first opposition leader of a defeated party right after a landslide victory.
“Usually it’s the third or fourth opposition leader in opposition that becomes premier.”
RedBridge Strategy and Campaigns director Kos Samaras said it would “be tough” for whoever takes over.
“The chances of winning government from opposition in one term in NSW are extremely remote,” he told NCA NewsWire.
“The gig is not going to be occupied by anyone who is doing anything but a service to their team.”
Manly MP James Griffin has ruled out running for the Liberal leadership, with the list of candidates likely to replace Dominic Perrottet dwindling to just three.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to serve the people of Manly, and I thank them for their support with the result on Saturday,” Mr Griffin, the outgoing environment minister, said on Monday.
“The NSW Liberal leadership will (be) determined by the partyroom and I’ll be enthusiastically supporting whoever that may be.”
Mr Griffin’s statement comes after he staved off a challenge from Teal Independent Joeline Hackman in his Manly electorate, despite recording a nearly 10 per cent swing against him.
His announcement means a dwindling list of names are now in the mix to replace Dominic Perrottet.
Favourites to run for the leadership include planning minister and Lane Cove MP Anthony Roberts, while other names in the mix include sports Minister Alister Henskens and attorney general Mark Speakmann.
Outgoing treasurer Matt Kean on Sunday announced he wouldn’t run for the leadership, citing the desire to spend more time with his young family.
It comes as Mr Speakman also on Monday all but confirmed he was running for the leadership, testing the waters by issuing a statement.
“I’m looking forward to discussions with my colleagues to ensure that we have a strong, refreshed and energised team ready to hold the government accountable in the interests of the people of NSW,” he said.
“I’ll have more to say shortly.”
KEAN COPS BLAME FOR LIBS’ ELECTION LOSS
Dejected Liberals left licking their wounds after Saturday’s bruising loss have described the election as a “referendum on Matt Kean,” which they lost.
It comes as Liberal sources said that top-secret internal research showed that Mr Kean was a serious drag on the party in Western Sydney.
Mr Kean, who rejected that assertion, last night pulled out of the contest for the Liberal Party leadership, saying he wanted to spend “a little more time” with his family.
“I have a young family and I would love to spend a little more time with them. The election result will enable me to do that,” he said.
Mr Kean was one of a number of names being touted to take over as opposition leader, including former Sports Minister Alister Henskens and ousted Attorney-General Mark Speakman.
By Sunday night, no Liberal MP had formally declared their intention to run.
It came as some left-faction Liberal MPs gathered to drown their sorrows at a Potts Point bar on Sunday night.
Senior Liberals staffing booths on Saturday reported that voters were venting anger at the ousted Treasurer and Energy Minister when arriving to cast their ballots.
That included voters in so-called ‘teal’ electorates like Wakehurst, which the Liberals lost to independent Michael Regan.
Mr Kean was deployed by the Liberal Party to save votes in the eastern and northern suburbs, but party members said that strategy cost them votes elsewhere.
Liberals familiar with internal research said that is showed Mr Kean was never as popular as either the Premier or the local Liberal MP in ‘teal’ contests.
However, those sources noted the biggest issue working against the Coalition was the ‘it’s time’ factor rather than any particular person.
The research also said that in a series of Western Sydney seats, Mr Kean brought down the vote.
In a statement, Mr Kean said: “I can’t comment on the specific research because only the Premier’s office has access to it, but in all polling the Premier is more popular than the treasurer, as is to be expected, and as has happened under previous Premiers.”
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal that the Liberals were so worried about losing votes to One Nation – which mounted its entire campaign on an attack against Mr Kean – that it appealed directly to One Nation votes for their support.
The Liberals erected election signs in Camden and Penrith asking One Nation votes for their second preference:
“Voting One Nation? Stop the Green-Labor radical left agenda. Put the Liberals at number 2,” the signs, authorised by Liberal NSW director Chris Stone said.
While One Nation did not perform as well as they may expected, the One Nation push left the Coalition rattled.
TOOLE TO HANG ONTO NATIONALS
It comes as Paul Toole is set to hold on to the leadership of the NSW Nationals with the party’s election results enough to stave off a leadership change, while some party members have lamented “the ghost of John Barilaro” hurting the Coalition vote.
As of Sunday the Nationals looked likely to hold all their seats except for Monaro, where former Labor MP Steve Whan could return to parliament after gaining the lead over incumbent Nichole Overall.
The Nationals failed to make inroads in three seats held by independents in the bush, with swings recorded against them in Murray, Barwon and Orange.
Despite their failure to win any new seats, one Nationals MP said conversations about axing their leader had been subdued by the party’s results elsewhere.
“Given the very strong showing by the Nationals, I think any conversation about leadership is speculation – I think there needs to be an acknowledgment that the ‘Nats’ as a team worked well and that leadership comes from the leader and deputy leader,” they said.
The Nationals’ leader Paul Toole didn’t rule out continuing in his role, telling The Telegraph “That’s a matter for the party room at the end of the day”.
“It’s not about me – my focus is finalising that count in a number of seats,” he said.
Mr Toole said his party “performed well, especially in the face of a six per cent swing to Labor across the board” and that he hadn’t given up hope on retaining Monaro.
“Monaro is looking like an uphill battle but I believe pre-poll is strong for us – Nichole Overall has been a tremendous fighter for that community and she’s the best person for that job,” he said.
“I’m proud of what we’ve been able to achieve … there’ll be plenty of fight coming from the Nationals to make sure a city-centric party now is going to be held accountable … and we’ll be up their ribs every day.”
One Nationals MP also said the Coalition was hurt from bad press lingering from former deputy Premier John Barilaro’s appointment to to a New York trade commission role, which resulted in a lengthy parliamentary inquiry over ‘jobs for the boys’ allegations which he was cleared of.
“The ghost of John Barilaro weighed on the party,” they said.
They also criticised their party for ploughing resources into Port Macquarie in a bid to win the seat off Nationals-turned-Liberal MP Leslie Williams.
They described running in Port Macquarie as an attempted ‘get square’ after Ms Williams defected from the Nationals in the midst of the ‘koala wars’ in 2020, which backfired as the popular local MP beat local Mayor Peta Pinson in a resounding win decided on Saturday night.
“A ‘get square’ campaign in the middle of an election campaign was just stupid,” they said.
“It just confused voters on the Mid North Coast.”
Join the conversation
$600 million development to transform Central Coast ‘eyesore’
More than 500 new apartments will be built on a Central Coast site after developer ALAND was given the green light to transform a long-time eyesore. Read all the details here.
Read more
Profiled: Byron council hopefuls battling for your vote
Away from Byron’s A-listers and wellness influencers, issues like a lack of affordable housing and homelessness are banging on council’s door. Here’s what these candidates plan to do about it.
Read more