Australia's opposition leader faces leadership challenge as senior lawmaker quits

Australia's opposition leader Sussan Ley ​is facing a possible leadership challenge ​less than a year into the ‌role, after ​a senior figure in her shadow cabinet resigned saying she was not the right person to lead the conservative Liberal ‌Party.

Angus Taylor quit as shadow defence minister on Wednesday evening, as Australian media widely reported he was preparing to challenge Ley and that his supporters would push for a party room vote as ‌early as Thursday. "I don't believe Sussan Ley is in a position to be ‌able to lead the party as it needs to be led from here," Taylor told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

"What we need right now is strong leadership, clear direction and a courageous focus on our values." Ley ⁠and Taylor ​did not immediately ⁠respond to a request seeking comment.

Taylor, who has been a member of the lower house since 2013, said urgent ⁠action was needed to restore confidence in the Liberals, whose support has been eroding following a massive election ​loss to the centre-left Labor Party in May. Opinion polls have shown the Liberal-National ⁠opposition coalition losing voters to far-right populist Senator Pauline Hanson and her anti-immigration party, One Nation.

A widely watched Newspoll ⁠published ​this week by The Australian newspaper showed the coalition's primary vote falling to 18%, while support for One Nation surged to 27%, and described Ley as the most unpopular ⁠major party leader in more than two decades. Ley, a former outback pilot who once mustered livestock ⁠and raised three children ⁠on a farm before graduating from university, became the first woman to lead the Liberals in May after then-leader Peter Dutton lost his ‌seat at ‌the election.