‘Sort it today’: Senior Libs MP Anthony Roberts demands saga ends

A senior Liberal MP, who has been in parliament for more than 20 years, has demanded his colleagues resolve the leadership saga “today”.

Liberal MP Anthony Roberts arrives in parliament on Thursday afternoon. Picture: Jack Rothfield

A senior Liberal MP, who has been in parliament for more than 20 years, has demanded his colleagues resolve the speculation over the leadership “today”.

“It’s not just getting ugly - it’s becoming frustrating now. This government is failing the people of NSW - that should be the story, not the leadership story. This has been going on for far too long, quite frankly it’s got to stop,” Mr Roberts told this masthead.

“It should have been sorted last week, it should have been sorted yesterday, it needs to be sorted today,” he said.

Earlier, Nationals MP Wes Fang has slammed Mark Speakman on the way into state parliament on Thursday morning.

“We need to knife Speakman, We need to get rid of him (Mark) and just get it done. I’m happy to do it if the Libs can’t find the ticker” Mr Fang told The Daily Telegraph.

When asked to respond to Mr Speakman’s claims on Thursday that he intended to be leader at the next election, Mr Fang said: “no chance. No chance. The Liberals will be toast if that happens.”

Mr Speakman dumped Mr Fang from the shadow front bench last year after Mr Fang publicly criticised his leadership.

When asked to respond to the new remarks, Mr Speakman said: “Wes is a very much an outlier. He’s an outlier in the Nationals.”

“My focus is on the people of NSW, and not what somebody in the upper house, who nobody has heard of might say from time to time” Mr Speakman told Laura Jayes on Sky News.

Meanwhile, Liberal MP Scott Farlow has played down the events of a late night meeting he held with Mr Speakman on Wednesday.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Farlow said: “I meet with the leader all the time. We had a good discussion last night. There’s nothing to report in terms of any meetings.”

When asked about Mr Speakman’s future as leader, Mr Farlow said “Mark is of course our leader. Mark will continue to fight for the government and prosecute the case.”

Mr Farlow was one of three MPs to meet with Mr Speakman on Wednesday night, along with Chris Rath and James Wallace.

In a last-ditch bid to hang onto the leadership, the opposition leader has organised no fewer than 10 media interviews on Thursday, already appearing on morning talkback radio and television. He had not held a press conference for more than a week.

A jovial Premier Chris Minns praised Mr Speakman’s new fighting spirit, telling Question Time it was “like Greg Chappell scoring a century in his final Test”.

Meanwhile, one senior Liberal MP told this masthead on Thursday morning they had formed the view Mr Speakman would face a leadership challenge today, although the timing of such a move remained unclear.