Hastie pulls out of Liberal leadership race, giving Ley breathing space
Paul Sakkal - January 30, 2026
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Liberal Andrew Hastie has sensationally pulled out of a mooted ballot against Sussan Ley to avoid a destructive long-term rupture in a conservative faction split between Hastie and fellow leadership aspirant Angus Taylor.
The backdown, first reported by this masthead on Friday afternoon, was not the result of any deal between Taylor and Hastie. Nevertheless, it paves the way for Taylor to mount a challenge against Ley with the Right united behind him.
The announcement came hours after Ley delivered an ultimatum to the Nationals to revive the Coalition, frustrating some of her senior MPs who questioned whether she was using the Nationals feud to project strength and help her cling to her job.
Taylor has told colleagues a spill should not happen next week when interest rates are likely to rise, so any leadership challenge may be in a fortnight, at the end of the parliamentary sitting, or even months away.
Hastie’s decision happened a day after a meeting of right-wing powerbrokers in Melbourne resulted in neither Hastie nor Taylor stepping back from their ambitions to seize power of the ailing party.
Sources with direct knowledge of Hastie’s mindset said it became clear that Taylor, 59, would not be comfortable sitting out the leadership ballot and serving under the 43-year-old, whereas Hastie knew he had many years ahead of him and was open to working with Taylor, despite believing he had more support to run.
If Hastie pushed ahead with a spill, it was possible that Taylor and his backers would not support it, or that Taylor might even quit the parliament sometime in the future, serving only to bolster the moderates’ choice, Ley.
Such a scenario would have constituted a remarkable split in the Right that would have turned the fortnight of disagreement in the Taylor versus Hastie battle into long-term relationship damage between conservative MPs.
“Andrew knew this would be perceived as him blinking, but he’s done the team thing and kept the team from blowing up,” one senior MP said, acknowledging that perceptions of Hastie might be damaged if onlookers judged he did not have the mettle to take his chance.
Supporters of the West Australian had claimed he was ready to put his hand up since the moment the Coalition blew up last week, triggering a crisis for Ley, but Hastie climbed down on Friday.
“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,” Hastie said on Friday.
“On this basis, I wish to make it clear I will not be contesting the leadership of the Liberal Party.”
Hastie’s camp was heavily criticised by others in the Right for being gung-ho and moving too quickly towards a leadership spill. One senior Hastie backer said the bad blood of the past fortnight meant some in the Right would not even back Taylor, complicating a future challenge.
What was meant to be a secret meeting at a residence in Melbourne on Thursday backfired on Hastie and right-wing powerbrokers who met before a former colleague’s funeral to decide whether Hastie or Taylor should run.
Cameras captured the event, putting a spotlight on the conservatives’ failure to pick one of Hastie or Taylor, and creating awkwardness for frontbenchers James Paterson and Jonno Duniam, who serve in Ley’s leadership team. It also drew genuine irritation from fellow MPs who believed it was disrespectful to hold the talks before attending a funeral, a view expressed by frontbencher Maria Kovacic on Friday.
The meeting could not solve the deadlock and meant Hastie was unable to rally enough support to force a spill because Taylor pushed back against a split and therefore split the Right.
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