Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia

0 views

Leader of the Liberal Party
Incumbent
Angus Taylor
since 13 February 2026
TypeParty leader
Member of
  • Parliamentary Liberal Party
  • Liberal Party Federal Council
Term lengthNo fixed term
Constituting instrumentClause 14.2, Constitution of the Federal Liberal Party[1]
Inaugural holderRobert Menzies
Formation21 February 1945
Unofficial namesLeader of the Liberal–National Coalition
DeputyDeputy Leader of the Liberal Party

The Leader of the Liberal Party, also known as Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, is the highest office within the Liberal Party of Australia, as well as within the Liberal–National Coalition. The incumbent leader is Angus Taylor, who was elected on 13 February 2026.[2]

History

[edit]

The Liberal Party leadership was first held by Robert Menzies, a former leader of the United Australia Party and co–founder of the Liberal Party along with eighteen political organisations and groups.[3]

Following the ousting of two Liberal prime ministers in three years, the then leader, Scott Morrison, proposed a new threshold to trigger a Liberal Party leadership change if the party was in government, requiring two-thirds of the party room to vote to initiate a spill motion. The change was agreed to at an hour-long party room meeting on the evening of 3 December 2018. Morrison said the changes, which were drafted with feedback from former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, would only apply to those who led the party to victory at a federal election.[4]

Role

[edit]

Since the days of Menzies, the Liberal Party has either been in government in a coalition or in opposition to Labor. Thus, the leader of the Liberal Party has always served as either the Prime Minister of Australia or the Leader of the Opposition. Furthermore, the leader picks the Cabinet and is also the leader of the Coalition. The Liberal Party has only had one leader of the party from the Senate, John Gorton, for a brief period in January 1968 before he resigned from the Senate to contest the Higgins by-election in February 1968.

Leaders of the Liberal Party

[edit]
Note: the right-hand column does not allocate height proportional to time in office.


List of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1945[5]
No. Leader
(birth–death) 		Portrait Electorate Took office Left office Election contested Prime Minister (term)
1 Robert Menzies
(1894–1978) 		Kooyong, Vic. 21 February 1945 20 January 1966 1946
1949
1951
1954
1955
1958
1961
1963 		Curtin (1941–1945)
Forde (1945)
Chifley (1945–1949)
Himself (1949–1966)
2 Harold Holt
(1908–1967) 		Higgins, Vic. 20 January 1966
(unopposed) 		17 December 1967
(died in office) 		1966 Himself (1966–1967)
3 John Gorton
(1911–2002) 		Senator for Victoria
(9 January – 1 February)
Higgins, Vic. 		9 January 1968
(elected) 		10 March 1971 1969 McEwen[a] (1967–1968)
Himself (1967–1971)
4 William McMahon
(1908–1988) 		Lowe, NSW 10 March 1971
(elected) 		20 December 1972 1972 Himself (1971–1972)
Whitlam (1972–1975)
5 Billy Snedden
(1926–1987) 		Bruce, Vic. 20 December 1972
(elected) 		21 March 1975 1974
6 Malcolm Fraser
(1930–2015) 		Wannon, Vic. 21 March 1975
(elected) 		11 March 1983 1975
1977
1980
1983
Himself (1975–1983)
Hawke (1983–1991)
7 Andrew Peacock
(1939–2021)
 Kooyong, Vic. 11 March 1983
(elected) 		5 September 1985 1984
8 John Howard
(b. 1939)
 Bennelong, NSW 5 September 1985
(elected) 		9 May 1989 1987
(7) Andrew Peacock
(1939–2021)
 Kooyong, Vic. 9 May 1989
(elected) 		3 April 1990 1990
9 John Hewson
(b. 1946) 		Wentworth, NSW 3 April 1990
(elected) 		23 May 1994 1993
Keating (1991–1996)
10 Alexander Downer
(b. 1951) 		Mayo, SA 23 May 1994
(elected) 		30 January 1995 None
(8) John Howard
(b. 1939)
 Bennelong, NSW 30 January 1995
(unopposed) 		29 November 2007 1996
1998
2001
2004
2007
Himself (1996–2007)
11 Brendan Nelson
(b. 1958) 		Bradfield, NSW 29 November 2007
(elected) 		16 September 2008 None Rudd (2007–2010)
12 Malcolm Turnbull
(b. 1954)
 Wentworth, NSW 16 September 2008
(elected) 		1 December 2009 None
13 Tony Abbott
(b. 1957) 		Warringah, NSW 1 December 2009
(elected) 		14 September 2015 2010
2013
Gillard (2010–2013)
Rudd (2013)
Himself (2013–2015)
(12) Malcolm Turnbull
(b. 1954)
 Wentworth, NSW 14 September 2015
(elected) 		24 August 2018 2016 Himself (2015–2018)
14 Scott Morrison
(b. 1968) 		Cook, NSW 24 August 2018
(elected) 		30 May 2022 2019
2022 		Himself (2018–2022)
Albanese (2022–incumbent)
15 Peter Dutton
(b. 1970)
 Dickson, Qld. 30 May 2022
(unopposed) 		5 May 2025 2025
16 Sussan Ley
(b. 1961) 		Farrer, NSW 13 May 2025
(elected) 		13 February 2026 None
17 Angus Taylor
(b. 1966) 		Hume, NSW 13 February 2026
(elected) 		Incumbent None

Federal leaders by time in office

[edit]

This list ranks federal leaders of the Liberal Party by their time in office. Leaders that also served as Prime Minister are in bold. Where leaders served non-consecutive terms, their total time as leader is ranked together.

Rank No. Leader Time in office
1 1st Robert Menzies 20 years, 333 days
2 8th John Howard 16 years, 184 days
3 6th Malcolm Fraser 7 years, 355 days
4 13th Tony Abbott 5 years, 287 days
5 12th Malcolm Turnbull 4 years, 59 days
6 9th John Hewson 4 years, 50 days
7 14th Scott Morrison 3 years, 279 days
8 7th Andrew Peacock 3 years, 142 days
9 3rd John Gorton 3 years, 59 days
10 15th Peter Dutton 2 years, 338 days
11 5th Billy Snedden 2 years, 91 days
12 2nd Harold Holt 1 year, 333 days
13 4th William McMahon 1 year, 270 days
14 11th Brendan Nelson 292 days
15 16th Sussan Ley 276 days
16 10th Alexander Downer 252 days
17 17th Angus Taylor 14 days[b]

Federal deputy leaders

[edit]
# Name State Term start Term end Duration Leader(s)
1 Eric Harrison New South Wales 21 February 1945 26 September 1956 11 years, 218 days Robert Menzies
2 Harold Holt Victoria 26 September 1956 20 January 1966 9 years, 116 days
3 William McMahon New South Wales 20 January 1966 10 March 1971 5 years, 49 days Harold Holt
John Gorton
4 John Gorton Victoria 10 March 1971 16 August 1971 159 days William McMahon
5 Billy Snedden Victoria 18 August 1971 20 December 1972 1 year, 124 days
6 Phillip Lynch Victoria 20 December 1972 8 April 1982 9 years, 109 days Billy Snedden
Malcolm Fraser
7 John Howard New South Wales 8 April 1982 5 September 1985 3 years, 150 days Malcolm Fraser
Andrew Peacock
8 Neil Brown Victoria 5 September 1985 17 July 1987 1 year, 315 days John Howard
9 Andrew Peacock Victoria 17 July 1987 9 May 1989 1 year, 296 days
10 Fred Chaney[c] Western Australia 9 May 1989 3 April 1990 329 days Andrew Peacock
11 Peter Reith Victoria 24 March 1990 13 March 1993 2 years, 354 days John Hewson
12 Michael Wooldridge Victoria 13 March 1993 23 May 1994 1 year, 71 days
13 Peter Costello Victoria 23 May 1994 29 November 2007 13 years, 190 days Alexander Downer
John Howard
14 Julie Bishop Western Australia 29 November 2007 24 August 2018 10 years, 268 days Brendan Nelson
Malcolm Turnbull
Tony Abbott
15 Josh Frydenberg Victoria 24 August 2018 30 May 2022 3 years, 279 days Scott Morrison
16 Sussan Ley New South Wales 30 May 2022 13 May 2025 2 years, 348 days Peter Dutton
Herself (acting)
17 Ted O'Brien Queensland 13 May 2025 13 February 2026 276 days Sussan Ley
18 Jane Hume[d] Victoria 13 February 2026 Incumbent 14 days Angus Taylor

Leaders in the Senate

[edit]
Leader Term began Term ended Portfolio[9] Status Parliamentary leader Term in office Deputy
Neil O'Sullivan 21 February 1950[10] 8 December 1958
Government Menzies 8 years, 290 days
Bill Spooner 8 December 1958[11] 2 June 1964[12]
5 years, 178 days Shane Paltridge
Shane Paltridge 10 June 1964[13] 19 January 1966[14] Defence 1 year, 230 days Denham Henty
Denham Henty 26 January 1966[15] 16 October 1967 Supply Holt 1 year, 263 days John Gorton
John Gorton 16 October 1967 1 February 1968
108 days Denham Henty
None
Himself
Ken Anderson 28 February 1968[e] 5 December 1972
Gorton 4 years, 281 days
Annabelle Rankin
McMahon
Reg Wright
Reg Withers 20 December 1972 11 November 1975 Opposition Snedden 5 years, 230 days
Opposition Fraser
12 November 1975[17] 7 August 1978[18]
Government
John Carrick 7 August 1978[19] 11 March 1983
4 years, 216 days
Fred Chaney 11 March 1983[20] 27 February 1990
Opposition Peacock 6 years, 353 days
Howard
  • Industrial Relations (1989-1990)
  • Deputy Leader of the Opposition (1989-1990)
 Peacock
Robert Hill 3 April 1990[21] 11 March 1996
  • Foreign Affairs (1990-1993)[22]
  • Defence, Public Administration (1993-1994)
 Hewson 15 years, 292 days
Education, Science and Technology Downer
Howard
11 March 1996[23] 20 January 2006
Government Howard Nick Minchin
Nick Minchin 27 January 2006[24] 3 December 2007
4 years, 96 days Helen Coonan
3 December 2007[25] 3 May 2010
Defence Opposition Nelson Eric Abetz
Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Turnbull
Resources and Energy Abbott
Eric Abetz 3 May 2010[26][27] 18 September 2013 Employment and Workplace Relations 2 years, 2 days George Brandis
18 September 2013[28][27] 21 September 2015 Employment Government
George Brandis 21 September 2015 20 December 2017 Attorney-General
V-P Exec. Council 		Turnbull 2 years, 90 days Mathias Cormann
Mathias Cormann 20 December 2017 30 October 2020 Finance and the Public Service
V-P Exec. Council 		2 years, 315 days Mitch Fifield
Simon Birmingham
Morrison
Simon Birmingham 30 October 2020 25 January 2025 Finance
Trade, Tourism and Investment (to Dec 2020)
V-P Exec. Council 		4 years, 87 days Michaelia Cash
Foreign Affairs Opposition Dutton
Michaelia Cash 25 January 2025 Incumbent Employment and Workplace Relations (to Apr 2023)
Attorney General (Apr 2023–May 2025) 		1 year, 33 days Anne Ruston
Foreign Affairs Ley
Attorney General Taylor

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ After the Disappearance of Harold Holt, the Deputy Prime Minister, McEwen, took over as a caretaker until the leadership election of the Liberal Party was concluded.
  2. ^ As of 27 February 2026
  3. ^ From 23 May 1989 to 24 March 1990 (305 days), Wal Fife occupied the unique position of "Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives". This was because Fred Chaney was a member of the Senate during that time; it was necessary to elect a temporary House-only deputy for procedural reasons.[6][7]
  4. ^ The position of "Deputy Leader in the House of Representatives" is held by Andrew Hastie. As Hume is a member of the Senate, it was necessary to elect a House-only deputy for procedural reasons.[8] This is a similar instance to the position of "Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives", used from 1989 to 1990.
  5. ^ Anderson was appointed Leader of the Government before the second session of the 26th Parliament,[16] and Gorton made his appointments on 28 February 1968.[9]
  6. ^ Withers was appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council the day after the Dismissal as part of Fraser's Caretaker Cabinet, but he continued in that office for his entire tenure as Leader of the Government. On the same date, he was appointed caretaker Minister for the Capital Territory, Special Minister of State, Minister for the Media, and Minister for Tourism and Recreation. He served in those offices until 22 December, when Fraser's first full Cabinet was sworn in. The Senate did not meet during the period 12 November to 22 December 1975 (indeed it was dissolved for most of that time). Withers gained the Administrative Services portfolio as part of the 22 December reshuffle.
  7. ^ Minister for Environment 1996–98.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Liberal Party of Australia Federal Constitution" (PDF). cdn.liberal.org.au. Liberal Party of Australia. 2019.
  2. ^ "Breaking: Angus Taylor has been elected Liberal leader". ABC. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Menzies Creates the Liberal Party". ABC. 1944. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Scott Morrison summons Liberal MPs to after-hours meeting to pass changes to leadership spill rules". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Our History". Liberal Party. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Liberal brawl may defer deputy vote". The Canberra Times. 22 May 1989.
  7. ^ "Peacock hopes brawling ended". The Canberra Times. 24 May 1989.
  8. ^ "Shadow Ministerial Arrangements". Liberal Party of Australia. 17 February 2026.
  9. ^ a b Australian Parliamentary Library. "Ministries and Cabinets". Parliamentary Handbook (32nd ed.). Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Dr. Evatt Survives a Challenge, Mr. E. J. Ward Beaten For Labour Party Post". The West Australian. 22 February 1950. p. 2. Retrieved 6 September 2014 – via Trove.
  11. ^ "5 New Men in Federal Ministry, Dr. Allen Fairhall Omitted". The Canberra Times. 9 December 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 – via Trove.
  12. ^ "Spooner Resigns from Cabinet: Government Solves One Problem, Finds Another". The Canberra Times. 3 June 1964. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 – via Trove.
  13. ^ "P.M. Fills Vacancies in Cabinet Reshuffle: Anderson and Howson New Ministers". The Canberra Times. 11 June 1964. p. 1. Retrieved 1 August 2013 – via Trove.
  14. ^ "Paltridge resigns Defence portfolio". The Canberra Times. 20 January 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 – via Trove.
  15. ^ "Bury in Cabinet: Holt chooses woman Minister in reshuffle". The Canberra Times. 26 January 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 – via Trove.
  16. ^ Ken Anderson, Leader of the Government in the Senate (12 March 1968). "Ministerial Arrangement". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Commonwealth of Australia: Senate. p. 12.
  17. ^ "Fraser Caretaker Cabinet". The Canberra Times. 13 November 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 – via Trove.
  18. ^ "PM sacks Withers, Durack gets post". The Canberra Times. 8 August 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 – via Trove.
  19. ^ "Person Details: Hon Sir John Leslie Carrick KCMG, AC". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  20. ^ "Peacock elected Opposition leader: Naming of shadow ministry next week". The Canberra Times. 12 March 1983. p. 3. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  21. ^ "Winner Hewson sets his agenda". The Canberra Times. 4 April 1990. p. 1.
  22. ^ "OPPOSITION EXECUTIVES AND SHADOW MINISTRIES". Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  23. ^ Australian Parliamentary Library. "Hill, Robert (1946–)". Retrieved 6 September 2013 – via Trove.
  24. ^ Australian Parliamentary Library. "Minchin, Nick (1953–)". Retrieved 6 September 2013 – via Trove.
  25. ^ Australian Parliamentary Library. "Minchin, Nick (1953–)". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  26. ^ Australian Parliamentary Library. "Abetz, Eric". Retrieved 8 September 2013 – via Trove.
  27. ^ a b "Senator the Hon Eric Abetz". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  28. ^ Australian Parliamentary Library. "Abetz, Eric". Retrieved 8 September 2013 – via Trove.

This article is sourced from Wikipedia. Content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.