Angus Taylor Deposits Sussan Ley's Career in Political Recycling Bin

KEY POINTS

•On February 13, 2026, Angus Taylor defeated Sussan Ley by 34 votes to 17 in the Liberal party leadership ballot.
•Sussan Ley, having led a long political career with unkept promises, announced plans to quit politics after the loss.
•Jane Hume and Dan Tehan declared bids for deputy positions, while Tim Wilson withdrew his own potential candidacy.

On February 13, 2026, Australian Liberal politics resembled a workplace sitcom when Angus Taylor crushed Sussan Ley 34-17 in the leadership ballot, inducing Ley to call quits faster than most quitters at a bad party. Ley, who apparently promised the moon yet struggled to convince even her own crew, now faces the grim task of unpacking decades of political baggage. Deputy hopefuls include Jane Hume, Dan Tehan, and the self-excluded Tim Wilson, who possibly decided not to run to save himself the wall-to-wall discomfort. Meanwhile, party insiders openly admit they were on a sinking ship, with policies on migration, housing, and education as vague as a fortune cookie. Politicians expressing 'feeling for her' gave the scene the usual mix of sympathy and backhanded resignation. No one’s laughing too hard, but this is our political reality check, folks—about as effective as a screen door on a submarine.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Leadership spill: Sussan Ley loses 34-17 and retires, proving politics remains the only job where a landslide defeat feels like a mild suggestion rather than a career ender.

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