A spill of the leadership of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

took place on 15 September 2008. At a ballot on 16 September, Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull defeated the incumbent leader Brendan Nelson 45 votes to 41.

Background

The Liberal-National coalition led by Prime Minister John Howard was defeated at the 2007 federal election by the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

led by

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

. In the aftermath, Brendan Nelson was elected leader in an ensuing ballot, in a 45-42 vote against former Minister for the Environment, Malcolm Turnbull. Nelson's leadership came under intense pressure throughout 2008. Newspoll polling in February 2008 set a record low "Preferred Prime Minister" rating for any opposition leader at 9 percent, with March polling setting another record of 7 percent, with two party preferred setting another Newspoll record at 37-63 percent. In response to increased speculation about his leadership Nelson commented in April that he "will keep fighting and standing up for everyday Australians." Support for Nelson as leader within the Liberal Party had all but collapsed by the end of July 2008, in part due to repeated gaffes on emissions trading and climate change. Expected to challenge him was either

Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in Howard government, government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving trea ...

or Malcolm Turnbull, upon the release of Costello's book, ''

The Costello Memoirs ''The Costello Memoirs'' is a collection of writings by Australian politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the ...

''. Costello stated he would not be making any move for the Liberal leadership, but media outlets capitalised on Costello's failure to categorically rule out any future leadership challenge. Some MPs said he "still remained ready to assume the leadership later in the electoral cycle".

Results

References

{{Leadership spills in Australia Liberal Party of Australia leadership election Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill Liberal Party of Australia leadership election

Background

Results

See also

References