Speakman quits, endorses Kellie Sloane as NSW Liberal leader

3 months ago 23

Deposed NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman has endorsed Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane to replace him, insisting she is the best person to deliver “renewal and regeneration” to the besieged party.

Speakman resigned as opposition leader late on Thursday, just hours after vowing he would continue fighting for the leadership and take the Coalition to the March 2027 election.

Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane and former NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman.

He was finally convinced to quit as leader after factional allies told him he had lost the support of his colleagues. Sloane also told him she believed she was best placed to lead the party.

“She believed that the interests of the party would be best served if she took the reins, and I have reluctantly agreed that,” Speakman said. “It has now reached the point where it’s impossible to get clear air no matter what policy announcements I made.”

Speakman said it had been a privilege to lead the party, but he urged his colleagues to support his replacement to ensure the Liberals were in the best place heading into the 2027 election.

“Unfortunately, there has been speculation about my leadership from the day I took it,” he said.

“I would hope that 16 months out from an election, my colleagues realise that whoever they elect tomorrow is someone they have to absolutely get behind. There is no further speculation between now and the election – the stakes are so high.”

In a brief statement, Sloane confirmed she would nominate for the leadership at a party room meeting on Friday morning.

“I have enormous respect for Mark, and thank him for his leadership of our party. I appreciate his endorsement of me this evening,” she said.

Speakman said the Liberals were at a crossroads and the party had been tarnished by the woeful federal election result.

“Things have changed since the May election, where opinion polling has gone downwards, where the brand damage from the federal election has continued,” he said.

The party needed to bring traditional Liberal values to a modern, diverse electorate to appeal to younger voters, he said.

“We are not back in the 1950s with white picket fences … it’s why I perhaps dragged the NSW party kicking and screaming to an aggressively pro-housing policy,” Speakman said.

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

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.

“The final blow to Speakman’s credibility was when Henskens was caught out for being treacherous and Speakman ummed and ahhed up until this very day over how to deal with it,” the MP said.

Henskens was contacted for comment. A source with knowledge of Friday’s leadership vote said Henskens was not expected to contest the ballot.

Asked whether he regretted not taking action against Henskens, Speakman said “hindsight is a wonderful thing” but added that Henskens had never told him he wanted to be leader.

Speakman’s resignation ends weeks of speculation over his leadership. Henskens had been canvassing MPs for their support for weeks, while Sloane had refused to challenge for the job.

Moderate MPs Chris Rath and James Wallace, as well as centre-right MP Scott Farlow, saw Speakman on Wednesday night after the NSW Press Gallery’s annual event. It sparked speculation that the MPs had urged Speakman to fall on his sword.

However, Speakman was defiant on Thursday morning, insisting that “reports of my death are grossly exaggerated, and I’m here to fight”.

“The honourable thing for anyone to do is, if they don’t have confidence in me, and they believe they can do a better job, they should come and knock on my door and tell me,” he told 2GB.

It became clear that Speakman’s leadership was not safe after question time on Thursday when a series of interviews, including with the Herald, were abruptly cancelled.

It later emerged that frontbenchers Mark Coure, Natalie Ward and Damien Tudehope all spoke privately with Speakman in the afternoon. Each discussed the party’s direction and the need for change, Liberal Party sources not authorised to speak publicly confirmed.

“Mark was very clear he didn’t want any delegations. He wanted to make it look like he was going on his own terms. He didn’t get that. But he didn’t get the factional leaders knocking on his door,” a Liberal MP with knowledge of the discussions said.

Speakman’s final conversation before meeting with Sloane was with Rob Stokes, a former Liberal minister and friend of the Cronulla MP.