A group of Victorian Liberal MPs has told the party leader, Brad Battin, they no longer have confidence in his leadership, paving the way for a vote on whether to replace him.
The intervention on Monday afternoon – delivered almost one year before the state goes to the polls – could trigger a ballot on his position as early as Tuesday morning.
Several party sources from different factions have confirmed the shadow treasurer, Jess Wilson, has received enough support to test leadership of the party, as first reported by the Age.
“In the last few hours, colleagues from across various groups have been encouraging Jess to put her hand up and bring the party together,” said one Liberal MP who declined to be named in order to speak freely before any vote.
“She has accepted and will be doing that.”
Jess Wilson has emerged as the favourite to replace Liberal leader Brad Battin. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
One senior Victorian Liberal said the party room was concerned Battin was “a one trick pony” on crime who would not be able to persuasively campaign on the economy, the budget and cost of living during a campaign.
They said Wilson, who is the daughter of former Victorian Liberal MP Ron Wilson and has strong ties to the conservative thinktank, the Institute of Public Affairs, had “more substance and depth on those issues”. They also said that as a woman, she presented a “very different and compelling face for the party”.
Wilson was contacted for comment.
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The Victorian Liberal party room will meet on Tuesday morning, as it does each sitting week. A move to spill positions would also implicate the deputy leader, Sam Groth.
If Battin does not resign, a move to spill leadership positions at Tuesday morning’s regular meeting may require a 75% majority of the party room.
Two sources said there was broad support for change across the party and were confident the issue would be resolved on Tuesday.
One source said Battin listened “gracefully” to the group of MPs who told him he had lost the confidence of the party room.
Battin, who is expected to issue a statement later on Monday, was contacted for comment.
Battin’s leadership of the party has been undermined by several internal party disputes in recent months, including a bitter divide over a loan to ensure former party leader John Pesutto could avoid bankruptcy and pay upper-house MP Moira Deeming’s legal costs following a defamation trial.
In September, the director of the Victorian Liberals, Stuart Smith, resigned after leaked messages were published in which he ridiculed the party’s women’s council and upper house MP Bev McArthur.
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In October, the Victorian Liberal party’s state executive extended preselections after being underwhelmed by the quantity and quality of candidates seeking to challenge Labor MPs.
Wilson, a 35-year-old first-term MP, would become the first woman to lead the Victorian Liberals if she succeeds in replacing Battin.
She would also be the third person to lead the state party in less than a year, after Pesutto was replaced on 27 December.
Those who confronted Battin on Monday afternoon believe any replacement must be given time to establish themselves as leader before the November 2026 election.
Battin has focused the party on crime in recent month, casting it as a key issue before the state poll.
The former police officer’s campaigning on the issue has not dented the Labor party’s polling, which points to it comfortably winning another term in office.
On Monday morning, before being told he had lost support of the party room, Battin was campaigning on the issue of crime with colleagues David Southwick and Nicole Werner.
The Victorian Liberals have been in opposition for more than a decade.
