Sussan Ley confirms she will nominate for Liberal Party deputy leader

Sussan Ley has confirmed that she will nominate for the deputy role alongside Peter Dutton as leader when the Liberals’ party room meets on Monday.

Promising to listen to the women of Australia and ­“rebuild trust” among those who abandoned the Coal­ition, Sussan Ley will seek to become only the second ­female deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

The Farrer MP has confirmed she will formally nominate for the deputy role alongside Peter Dutton as leader when the Liberals’ party room meets on Monday.

Speaking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph, Ms Ley said she felt “energised and enthusiastic” about rebuilding the Liberal Party after the “sobering” election loss on Saturday.

“I’m putting my hand up for the position, obviously if I’m successful I will have more to say about the ­approach we take,” she said.

“But I want to reconnect with the community that we represent and I want to win back our support.”

MP Sussan Ley with the first plane she flew, at Albury. Picture: Simon Dallinger

Although Farrer is made up of rural NSW towns and regional centres, including Albury and Griffith, Ms Ley said she wanted to speak with the voters in places like Sydney’s eastern suburbs who have turned on the Liberal Party.

“I want to hear from them, I want to talk to them,” she said. “No seat is more important than another, but we have a role and we have a rebuilding task to do in some (areas) that didn’t support us.”

Peter Dutton is widely expected to be appointed Liberal Party leader. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Prior to entering parliament in 2001, Ms Ley held a commercial pilot’s licence and was one of the first women in Australia to receive her mustering endorsement — a special ticket that allows pilots to fly very close to the ground in tight circles to round up livestock.

If successful in her bid for the deputy role, Ms Ley would be only the second female deputy leader of the Liberal Party, after Julie Bishop held the role for a decade.

Ms Ley said it would be “presumptuous” to point to specific things the Liberals did “wrong” in the 2022 election, but she said it was clear a “large number of women” had abandoned the party.

If elected deputy leader, Ms Ley said she wanted to lift up her female colleagues.

“I want all our women to shine,” she said. “I know how hard it is for women in many different walks of life … I want to be able to demonstrate that we’re listening to women, that we’re for women, and I want to hear from the women of Australia.”

Ms Ley said she had known Mr Dutton for more than 20 years and was ­confident they could work well together.

“I really like Peter,” she said. “What you see is what you get, and that’s ­important. It’s important to be authentic.”

Ms Ley was one of several sitting MPs who required federal intervention during her preselection to keep her in the seat, but said she “ignored” the “shenanigans” at the time.

“I think I answered my critics quite well by having a 7 per cent two-party preferred swing towards me,” she said.

Ms Ley said she was not a “factional player”.

“I find it simply takes away from the real work, which is representing people,” she said.

“I just don’t have time for that, and I don’t think the Australian people have time for it either.”

Meanwhile, MP for Gippsland Darren Chester on Thursday night confirmed he would challenge Barnaby Joyce for the Nationals’ leadership when the party meets on Monday.