Inside the ‘death spiral stalemate’ plaguing the NSW Liberals

A senior Liberal MP has blamed "blind loyalty and cowardice" for the party's leadership crisis, as Mark Speakman refuses to step aside despite losing support.

Official Images of NSW Parliament House. Picture: Supplied by the NSW Government

“Blind loyalty and a bit of cowardice from the moderates” is to blame for the Liberals’ leadership stalemate.

That’s the devastating assessment from one moderate faction Liberal, after Mark Speakman dug in as leader despite an increasing number of his colleagues wanting him to go.

The Daily Telegraph can now reveal more about the meeting that took place on Wednesday night, when three moderates went to speak to Opposition Leader Mark Speakman privately after a parliamentary Christmas party.

The Telegraph revealed, immediately after the Wednesday night meeting, that the men had spoken to Mr Speakman about the state of affairs in the party.

The Telegraph can now reveal the three MPs — Chris Rath, James Wallace and Scott Farlow told Mr Speakman he had all but lost the numbers in the party room.

They stopped short of telling Mr Speakman he should quit.

NSW Liberal Leader, Mark Speakman, during debate in NSW state parliament. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

In a blitz of morning media on Thursday, Mr Speakman insisted he would not be going anywhere.

One moderate Liberal told the Telegraph that the faction only had itself to blame for the “death spiral stalemate,” as members of the left have been sticking by their leader.

“Because of blind loyalty and a bit of cowardice from the moderates we’ve found ourselves in this position,” the MP said.

Supporters for liberal legal affairs spokesman Alister Henskens has been doing the numbers, but as of Wednesday morning the lawyer did not have the numbers to take the leadership.

Liberal Health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane is understood to have the numbers – in the event the leadership was vacated.

However, a lot of her supporters are still supporting Mr Speakman as leader.

Ms Sloane has been telling colleagues she will not stand for the leadership against Mr Speakman.

The Telegraph was told Mr Henskens was going “door to door” to canvass support.

When asked how she felt about the situation, NSW conservative Liberal MP Tanya Davies – who is expected to back Mr Henskens should a spill occur – said the leadership issue needed to be resolved “immediately”

“Uncertainty over the leadership must be resolved immediately so our team can focus on the challenges that face our communities and to highlight the failures of the Labor government,” she said.

Originally published as Inside the ‘death spiral stalemate’ plaguing the NSW Liberals