Tony Abbott to become new Liberal Party president in former PM’s return to political frontlines

Unopposed nomination comes seven years after Abbott lost his Sydney seat of Warringah at the 2019 election

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Tony Abbott will become the new federal Liberal party president in a return to the political frontlines for the conservative former prime minister.

Abbott was the only nominee for the presidency after the other contender – former foreign minister Alexander Downer – chose to instead run for one of the vice-president’s positions.

The election of Abbott to the party’s top administrative role will be confirmed at the Liberal party’s federal council meeting in Melbourne next weekend.

He will succeed the former South Australian premier John Olsen.

It will mark a return to active political life for the 28th prime minister seven years after he lost his Sydney seat of Warringah at the 2019 election.

Abbott remains a hugely influential figure among conservative Liberals – including Angus Taylor . The opposition leader’s brother, Charlie Taylor, formally nominated Abbott for the presidency.

The federal presidency is an unpaid role that oversees the party’s administrative wing and campaigning infrastructure, working at arm’s length from the parliamentary party and typically away from the media spotlight.

But moderate Liberals have said they fear Abbott will use the role to act as a de-facto leader, pulling the party further to right on issue such as immigration and creating drama and distraction for Taylor’s parliamentary team.

After news of Abbott’s presidency tilt emerged, factional rivals said the opposition leader would have “rocks in his head” if he endorsed the move.

Abbott was asked about a tilt at the presidency at the Sydney writers’ festival on Friday.

“I am thinking about doing everything I can to help Angus Taylor to be the 32nd prime minister of Australia,” he said.

“I think that the best thing that I can do towards that is to help him, by, if the coming federal council so chooses, being the president of the party.”

Abbott told his audience he owed everything he’d achieved in public life to the Liberal party.

“I believe it is my duty to serve the Liberal party to the best of my ability: if the Liberal party calls, and it seems that what they’re calling for is for someone such as me to be the president.”

Meanwhile the Victorian Liberal party state council will meet in Melbourne on Saturday, where the executive is up for re-election.

The party president, Philip Davis, is expected to step down, with former federal director, Brian Loughnane, the sole candidate to replace him.

Loughnane is an ex-Liberal party federal director and is married to Peta Credlin – Abbott’s former chief of staff.

The administrative shake-up follows the Moira Deeming preselection saga in March, in which another candidate, Dinesh Gourisetty, won the vote but was not formally endorsed after it emerged 24 hours later that he had written a character reference for a convicted sex offender. The party reviewed its vetting processes as a result.

It was not the first controversy the executive has faced. A sub-faction of members is suing the executive over a $1.55m loan it awarded to former leader John Pesutto to pay legal fees owed to Deeming after she successfully sued him for defamation. The ongoing legal action has come to symbolise the state branch’s internal dysfunction.

Liberal party sources said the state opposition leader, Jess Wilson and her friend, federal senator James Paterson, directly approached Loughnane to nominate for the position.

It is understood Loughnane told the duo he would only contest the presidency position if it carried support across the factions and if it was for a short duration.

A moderate-aligned Victorian Liberal source said Loughnane was a “seasoned operator” and “classical Liberal” who would help bring the party together. They noted he had overseen the federal party’s landslide victories in 2004 and 2013.