Scandals and setbacks make Sussan Ley an unlikely candidate for Liberal leadership

Despite her chequered past, Sussan Ley has emerged as a surprise contender to lead the Liberal Party — a move that would make her the first woman to hold the role.

Despite scandals and setbacks, Sussan Ley has emerged as an unlikely frontrunner to replace Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

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Few in the Liberals ever considered Sussan Ley as a contender to succeed Peter Dutton, but she’s now in the box seat to try to lead the battered party out of one of its greatest crises.

Her career, punctuated by blunders and scandals – the worst of which saw her resign from cabinet – makes Ms Ley an unlikely pick for the Liberal leadership.

But the loss of several senior Liberals such as Michael Sukkar along with the Coalition’s lacklustre economic agenda that tainted the reputation of the party’s heir apparent Angus Taylor, has unexpectedly thrust her into the race to become the Liberals’ 16th leader.

Ms Ley campaigning for the vast electorate of Farrer in 2001.

Born in Nigeria and raised in England, Ms Ley moved to Australia and worked as an air traffic controller and pilot for a brief time before becoming a director at the Australian Taxation Office in ­Albury.

She was elected to parliament in 2001 at the age of 39, representing the seat of Farrer in south-western NSW. In late 2014, she was elevated to cabinet as minister for health and sport, later taking on the aged-care portfolio as well. It was during that period, however, that the missteps started to surface.

In 2015, she came under fire for a $14,000 phone bill and $400,000 in taxpayer-funded entitlements claimed in six months – a sum that exceeded the spending of many ministerial peers.

Two years later she was forced to resign from cabinet after she was mired in an expenses scandal, having billed taxpayers for attending two events hosted by a Liberal Party donor. She was similarly criticised for purchasing a Gold Coast apartment while on a work trip.

Ms Ley defending allegations of rorting travel entitlements in 2017. Picture: Simon Dallinger

Yet her time on the backbench proved short-lived. In 2019, she returned to cabinet as environment minister and in 2022 was installed as deputy Liberal leader, taking carriage of the women, skills, small business and industry portfolios.

There, she earned a reputation as an attack dog but drew internal criticism for failing to connect with key constituencies – including small business owners and female voters – due to what some saw as a lack of targeted policies.

Her declaration in early 2024 that the Coalition would oppose Labor’s rejigged stage three tax cuts, only for her to be later forced into an embarrassing backdown in support of the measure, has been cited as an example that she was ill-prepared for Liberal leadership.

In recent days, her supporters have unleashed an avalanche of criticism against her chief opponent Mr Taylor, blaming him for the Coalition’s un­inspiring economic platform and perceived failure to take advantage of Labor’s management of the cost of living.

Undecided Liberals say the mudslinging by Ms Ley’s supporters threaten to undermine her campaign for the leadership, and will likely destabilise her authority even if she can claim the top job.