Australian opposition leader faces leadership challenge as senior lawmaker quits

• Summary

• Angus Taylor to challenge Ley

• Vote of Liberal MPs likely on Friday, media reports say

• Opinion polls show Ley losing voters to far-right One Nation

SYDNEY, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Australian opposition leader Sussan Ley is facing a leadership challenge less than a year into the role, after a senior figure in her shadow cabinet said she was not the right person to lead the conservative Liberal Party and resigned to challenge her.

“The Labor government has failed and the Liberal Party has lost its way,” Angus Taylor said in a video posted on social media on Thursday, after stepping down as the shadow defence minister.

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“I believe we need strong and decisive leadership to give Australians clarity, courage and confidence in providing a vision for the future,” he said.

Australian media widely reported a vote of Liberal members of parliament will happen on Friday morning.

Ley’s office did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. In a post on X on Thursday, Ley made no reference to the leadership challenge, saying instead “we will take the pressure off families, fix the budget, and keep Australia safe”.

Taylor is a leading figure in the conservative faction within the Liberal party, while Ley has support from so-called moderate members. Ley’s popularity has slid amidst infighting, both within the Liberal Party and with its National Party coalition partner, over issues including action on climate change, hate speech laws and immigration.

Supporters of both factions said they have the majority support, Australian media reports said. So far, six shadow ministers, including Taylor, have resigned, according to the reports.

Taylor, who has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2013, said urgent action was needed to restore confidence in the Liberals, whose support has been eroding following a massive election loss to the centre-left Labor Party in May.

Opinion polls have shown the Liberal-National opposition coalition losing voters to far-right populist Senator Pauline Hanson and her anti-immigration party, One Nation.

A Newspoll published this week by The Australian newspaper showed the coalition’s primary vote falling to 18%, while support for One Nation surged to 27%, and described Ley as the most unpopular major party leader in more than two decades.

Ley, a former outback pilot who once mustered livestock and raised three children on a farm before graduating from university, became the first woman to lead the Liberals in May after then-leader Peter Dutton lost his seat at the election.

Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Sonali Paul, Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast.

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