Whoever emerges as Liberal leader faces one of the most daunting challenges in the party’s history

Acting Opposition Leader Sussan Ley surrounded by extended family at home in Albury, NSW. Picture: Alex Coppel

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Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor are locked in a brutal leadership fight that could have major ramifications for their political futures.

While both are publicly and privately talking down factional recriminations if they replace Peter Dutton as opposition leader, there are always winners and losers.

Given the nature of the May 3 election bloodbath and the loss of so many Liberal MPs and senators, the biggest loser in this contest will likely be the defeated candidate.

Anthony Albanese’s landslide victory has taken some of the sting out of the battle between Liberal conservatives and moderates but there is plenty of animosity behind the scenes.

Despite the bad blood, neither aspirant can afford to freeze out talented and hard-working MPs and senators from their teams.

As the Prime Minister prepares to fly to Jakarta to meet with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto after clinching a second-term government with more than 90 seats, the Liberals, Nationals and Greens will hold grim partyroom meetings this week to vote for new leaders and deputy leaders.

Whoever walks out of the Liberal Party room as victor on Tuesday morning will confront one of the most daunting challenges in the conservative party’s history.

With the Liberal Party losing most of its metropolitan and suburban seats in the capital cities, failing to energise female voters and struggling to compete with the ALP and Climate 200-backed teal campaign machines, the road back to power for some MPs seems at least a decade away.

A senior Liberal MP recently lamented it “could be at least 10 years before our people could become cabinet ministers … that’s a long time”.

It is imperative that the federal Liberal Party team locks in behind whoever wins the leadership and deputy leadership.

Instability and infighting is death in politics … particularly when you have lost so much talent and experience.

Shadow treasurer and federal member for Hume Angus Taylor. Picture: Martin Ollman

A Nationals MP on Sunday said the losses would be most deeply felt when parliament returned. “The optics will be crazy. The Labor benches and the crossbench will wrap all the way around the chamber,” the MP said.

The key for the Coalition is to remain focused on priority issues, come up with quality policies that aren’t left until the last minute, and to not blindly walk into Labor scare campaigns.

Both Ley and Taylor carry baggage into the leadership ballot. The defection of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price from the Nationals to the Liberals in support of Taylor adds another fascinating dimension to the internal fight for the party’s future.

While there is deep pessimism in Coalition ranks, the only hope for some Liberals at this stage of the cycle is that Albanese’s popularity plunges as he struggles to manage his giant caucus and the grievances of ambitious Labor MPs.