<\/p>\n
Andrew Hastie has confirmed he won\u2019t contest the Liberal party leadership, clearing the path for fellow rightwinger Angus Taylor to challenge Sussan Ley.<\/p>\n
After Hastie ended a week of a speculation with a statement on Friday that confirmed he would not seek the opposition leadership, a source close to Taylor said it was a \u201cquestion of when, not if\u201d the shadow defence minister will launch a formal bid to unseat Ley.<\/p>\n
Multiple sources said Taylor would not push for a leadership spill when federal parliament returns on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The two men met face-to-face<\/a> in Melbourne on Thursday but couldn\u2019t reach agreement on who would challenge Ley in the fallout to the second Coalition split in eight months.<\/p>\n But Hastie ended the impasse on Friday afternoon, conceding he doesn\u2019t have the numbers to unseat Ley.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past few weeks there has been speculation about the future leadership of the Liberal party<\/a> of Australia,\u201d Hastie said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve previously stated that I would welcome the opportunity to serve my party and our country as leader of the Liberal party.<\/p>\n \u201cBut having consulted with colleagues over the past week and respecting their honest feedback to me, it is clear that I do not have the support needed to become leader of the Liberal party.<\/p>\n \u201cOn this basis, I wish to make it clear I will not be contesting the leadership of the Liberal party.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/sub><\/a><\/p>\n Senior Liberal sources familiar with Hastie\u2019s thinking said the former solider was not pushed to step aside and came to the decision himself after canvassing colleagues and confidantes outside the party over the past 24 hours.<\/p>\n One Hastie ally cautioned against assuming the Western Australian\u2019s supporters would automatically shift their allegiances to Taylor, which would make the 59-year-old\u2019s task more difficult.<\/p>\n Hastie\u2019s supporters viewed the 43-year-old as a chance for generational change within the party, which was not part of Taylor\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n Ley defeated Taylor 29 votes to 25<\/a> to win the Liberal leadership after last year\u2019s federal election.<\/p>\n One conservative Liberal said there was no appetite for a challenge against Ley next week, noting the Reserve Bank was widely expected to raise interest rates and the focus should be on criticism of Labor.<\/p>\n They said there had not been a serious counting of numbers, and blamed media speculation for the febrile atmosphere.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be an absolute circus if someone stood up and called for a vote,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n One Ley supporter described Hastie\u2019s statement as \u201carrogant, self-absorbed\u201d and \u201cchildish\u201d, and said they doubted the West Australian MP ever had the numbers for a leadership spill.<\/p>\n Hastie\u2019s announcement comes after Ley earlier on Friday<\/a> gave the Nationals an eight-day window to reunite the Coalition before she pushed ahead with a Liberal-only frontbench.<\/p>\n The opposition leader assigned the old Nationals portfolios to existing Liberal shadow ministers in an acting capacity for the upcoming sitting week, beginning Tuesday.<\/p>\n