Gurmesh Singh elected Nationals leader

Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh has been elected leader of the Nationals less than 24 hours after Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders abruptly resigned on Monday morning.

After an uncontested ballot at 8.30am on Tuesday, Singh emerged as the party’s new leader. Kevin Anderson, the member for Tamworth, was elected deputy unopposed.

Gurmesh Singh arrives at NSW Parliament in Sydney on Tuesday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Singh, a blueberry and macadamia farmer turned conservative politician, was believed to be the only MP calling colleagues about the leadership, according to party sources speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail private discussions.

Singh was the beneficiary of MPs eager to unite behind a new leader, while Paul Toole, 2½ years after being deposed as leader, decided against contesting despite heavy speculation he would.

The deputy position vacated by Singh was still considered a moving feast just an hour before the party room meeting. Senior frontbenchers Kevin Anderson and Sarah Mitchell were touted by MPs but it was Anderson who emerged with the position.

Singh, who was elected in 2019, held a number of shadow portfolios, including emergency services, regional affairs and the North Coast.

Gurmesh Singh (right) arrives at NSW Parliament on Tuesday morning with Kevin Anderson (left) and Sarah Mitchell (centre).Credit: Kate Geraghty

Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh has been elected as the new leader of the Nationals.Credit: James Brickwood

Saunders resigned unexpectedly, releasing a statement saying he wanted to “focus more on my family and myself”.

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“For the past 2½ years, I have had the privilege of leading the NSW Nationals – today I am stepping down from that position,” he wrote.

Nationals sources believed Saunders had lost the support of colleagues and would have faced a challenge this week if he had not stood down.

Singh, a Punjabi Sikh by descent – his great-grandfather Bella Singh migrated in the 1890s – grew up in Woolgoolga on the state’s Mid North Coast. But in an interview with The Nightly in September, the MP said he was “sick of being called Indian”.

“How many more generations does it have to be before I stop being an Indian-Australian and just an Australian? I think that’s the question we all have to answer,” he said.

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