Updated ,first published
David Littleproud has resigned as the leader of the Nationals after key supporters lost faith in his leadership following a damaging split with the Liberal Party, opening up a wide field of candidates to take control of the struggling country party.
In a surprise announcement after question time that stunned close colleagues, Littleproud revealed he had no energy but no regrets, comparing himself with famous Nationals leader Jack ‘Black’ McEwen as the party sheds support to One Nation.
“I’m buggered and I’ve had enough,” Littleproud said alongside wife Amelia at a press conference in Parliament House on Tuesday.
“It would be wrong for me to say that I’m the right person to continue to lead. That’s tough for me to say. I think someone better can do it because I don’t have the energy.”
The Nationals will hold a party room meeting at 10am tomorrow.
Senator Matt Canavan will contest the party’s leadership, and said: “I believe I have the best chance to help win the battle for an Australia-first plan that can deliver a better life for all Australians.”
Bridget McKenzie will put her had up, source said, as is Littleproud’s deputy Kevin Hogan and former leader Michael McCormack is also a chance.
Canavan has previously run for leader and gained only a handful of votes, mainly from the right flank of the Nationals previously loyal to Joyce. He has expanded his voting bloc in recent months. Canavan’s challenge will be to win over enough of Littleproud’s more moderate party room allies, who could be more inclined to support Hogan or McCormack, both of whom might be considered a safer pair of hands.
Littleproud will continue to serve as the member for Maranoa, so his quitting as leader will not force another byelection for the Coalition like the one in Sussan Ley’s former seat.
This masthead reported last week that at least two key MPs who had previously voted for Littleproud had made clear to colleagues they believed Littleproud had damaged the party severely during January’s split with the Liberals – the second this term – and could not remain leader long-term.
The 49-year-old from regional Queensland still retained majority support and was not forced out by an imminent leadership threat. Yet rivals, particularly Canavan who has become more disciplined in recent months and offered to return to the frontbench, were building up support in expectation of a leadership change.
MPs were watching to see how the Nationals performed in Farrer, the regional NSW seat they held before Ley entered parliament. In an interview with this masthead’s Inside Politics podcast last week that raised eyebrows in the Coalition frontbench, Littleproud said he expected his party to finish last.
“I’ll serve this great party, this great Coalition, any way they want me to, but my time is over as a leader. I’ve done all I can do and all I want to do,” Littleproud said, explaining that the weeks-long feud with the Liberals over Labor’s hate crimes laws had taken its toll.
“It’s time for me to feel normal again. It’s been a pretty rough road since the election.”
Former Nationals and now One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, who did not get along with Littleproud, told this masthead on Tuesday that his former colleague was not present at the Nationals’ candidate announcement in Farrer last week and was instead in his own electorate, where One Nation’s vote is surging.
“He was instead at the Apple and Grape Festival in Stanthorpe [in Littleproud’s electorate of Maranoa], which would suggest he too has concerns about his electorate’s fortunes,” Joyce said.
“The increase in the One Nation vote is no aberration. It is certainly not an aberration in Maranoa. It would be insincere for me to say that, had David’s management style been somewhat different, that the Nats would not be in the position they find themselves in.”
Littleproud and his allies repeatedly pointed out that he bolstered the status of the junior Coalition partner over recent years by securing policy wins on breaking up supermarkets, building nuclear energy plants, and dropping the net zero emissions target.
These policies appealed to conservative regional voters and the Coalition parties’ right-wing membership base but did not succeed at last May’s election, as the Nationals failed to win any new seats.
Since the election, voters have further turned away from the Coalition in many polls, including this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor, and moved to One Nation, plunging the regional party into an existential tailspin.
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Paul Sakkal is chief political correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and has won Walkley and Quill awards. Reach him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14Connect via X or email.
Brittany Busch is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.