leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply spill) is a colloquialism referring to a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (le ...

for the federal leadership of the

National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Au ...

was held on 30 May 2022. The spill follows the federal election in which the

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

, of which the Nationals form part, lost government, earlier in the same month. The incumbent leader,

Barnaby Joyce Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...

, had served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

in the outgoing government. He lost against his deputy

David Littleproud David Kelly Littleproud (born 4 September 1976) is an Australian politician who has been the leader of the National Party since May 2022. He has represented the Queensland seat of Maranoa since the 2016 federal election and was a cabinet mini ...

, who was elected party leader. A separate leadership vote for the National Party's Coalition partner

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

was also held on the same day.

Background

The Coalition lost the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth conse ...

to the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

opposition led by

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parlia ...

. There was significant media coverage surrounding the impact that comments made by Nationals politicians had on the loss of Liberal seats to independents, Labor and the Greens, particularly surrounding climate policy. The Nationals do not officially release the results of party leadership elections. It is custom in the party for an automatic leadership spill to be triggered at the beginning of a new parliament.

Candidates

Darren Chester Darren Jeffrey Chester (born 13 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives for Gippsland in Victoria, representing the Nationals since 2008. Chester had served as the Minister for Veterans ...

, former Minister for Veterans' Affairs *

, incumbent Deputy Leader and former Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia *

, incumbent leader and former Deputy Prime Minister

Results

Littleproud won the spill and became the new party leader, with

Perin Davey Perin McGregor Davey (born 5 February 1972) is an Australian politician who was elected as a Senator for New South Wales at the 2019 Australian federal election. She is a member of the National Party and is its Senate whip. On 30 May 2022, Da ...

as his deputy. Even though Davey was a Senator,

Bridget McKenzie Bridget McKenzie (born 27 December 1969) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the National Party and has been a Senator for Victoria since 2011. She has held ministerial office in the Turnbull and Morrison governments, also serving ...

was elected and remained leader of the Nationals in the Senate.

Notes

References

National Party of Australia May 2022 events in Australia Australian leadership spills National Party of Australia leadership spill 2022 elections in Australia {{Australia-election-stub