Mark Speakman resigns LIVE updates: Kellie Sloane frontrunner to lead NSW Liberal Party as Speakman steps down

Mark Speakman opened his press conference by declaring “a day is a long time in politics”.

“This morning, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the jacarandas were blooming, and I was on breakfast radio and on TV and saying that I would be continuing as Liberal Party leader,” he said.

Mark Speakman announced his resignation on Thursday afternoon. Credit: Janie Barrett

“At that stage, no alternative candidate had come forward to tell me they wanted to be the leader.”

This afternoon it became clear that at least one other person “declared to me that she wished to be leader”, Speakman said.

A number of his colleagues have since called for “renewal and regeneration” in a new leader, Speakman said.

Mark Speakman was finally convinced to quit as NSW Liberal leader on Thursday, after powerbrokers told him he had lost the support of his moderate colleagues after he failed to act on an “ultimate act of treachery”.

Colleagues were aghast that Speakman did not take decisive action against his leadership nemesis Alister Henskens, who made a pitch to right-wing colleagues last week in a bid to convince them he should replace Speakman.

Speakman was told of the briefing, which was attended by all right-wing MPs except Natasha Maclaren-Jones who was overseas, but did not take action against Henskens. Some of those MP are in Speakman’s shadow cabinet.

A senior Liberal MP, not permitted to comment publicly under party rules, said Speakman’s leadership became untenable after he failed to sack Henskens from his shadow cabinet.

Read more of this story here. 

Mark Speakman this afternoon cancelled a string of media interviews, including with the Herald, before calling a 5pm press conference.

Speakman spent the morning appearing on radio and television with a defiant message for his colleagues: “unless and until I’m blasted out, I’m here to do a job for the people of NSW” he told ABC radio.

He had been largely avoiding fronting the media in the past week, and hadn’t called a press conference since last Monday.

Ultimately power brokers in the party convinced Speakman to step down after losing the support of his moderate colleagues.

Mark Speakman’s tenure as NSW Liberal leader began in April 2023 after a 12-year Coalition was turfed out, and he has struggled in the polls ever since.

The party’s primary vote has been languishing at 28 per cent in the past two Resolve Political Monitor surveys conducted for the Herald. The result has been partly responsible for the anxiety surrounding the leadership.

Oddly, one of Speakman’s best personal results came in the latest Resolve survey. As state political editor Alexandra Smith reported, his standing as preferred premier rose 3 percentage points to 19 per cent – not high, but the best it has been. Premier Chris Minns’ standing, meanwhile, slipped 6 percentage points to 31.

The woman considered most likely to emerge as the new leader of the NSW Liberal Party is a former journalist who entered parliament in 2023 when the Coalition’s 12-year run came to an end.

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A fellow moderate, Sloane has so far refused to challenge Speakman but told her close political allies that she would be prepared to accept the position, should it become available.

The member for Vaucluse, Sloane describes herself as “a country girl at heart” but represents an affluent and high-density electorate.

State political editor Alexandra Smith profiled Sloane in September when chatter increased about her potential as a future leader. Smith wrote that while plenty of Liberals see Sloane as the next leader in NSW, they also point out she is no Lady Macbeth.

Welcome to the Herald’s live coverage from NSW Parliament where leader Mark Speakman is set to step down as Liberal leader after days of speculation.

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Speakman has called a press conference for 5pm.

Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane is believed to have the numbers to win the leadership. Wahroonga MP Alister Henskens is also a likely leadership contender.

I’m Jessica McSweeney and with fellow state political reporter Max Maddison and state political editor Alexandra Smith, we’ll be bringing you all the news and analysis from Macquarie Street as it happens.