Jarrod Bleijie elected unanimously as Queensland LNP deputy leader

Former Newman government ­Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie has been elected unopposed as the deputy leader of Queensland’s Liberal National Party.

Former Queensland ­attorney-general Jarrod Bleijie. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Former Newman government ­attorney-general Jarrod Bleijie has been elected unopposed as the deputy leader of Queensland’s Liberal National Party.

Mr Bleijie, 40, was unanimously elected in a partyroom vote on Monday afternoon.

It followed the resignation of Toowoomba-based David Janetzki, who left the role to spend more time with his family.

LNP sources said Mr Bleijie’s appointment would bring much-needed aggression to the party, which has spent 28 of the past 33 years in opposition and lost seats to Labor at the 2020 election.

It is also likely to provide Labor with ammunition to rebuff the opposition by linking the party’s leadership under Mr Bleijie and leader David Crisafulli to the tenure of Campbell Newman as premier, sources said.

Mr Bleijie built a reputation as a brash headkicker while serving as attorney-general in the Newman government from 2012 to 2015.

He infamously fell out with the state’s judiciary over the appointment of Tim Carmody as chief justice after nine months as chief magistrate.