Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce will face a leadership challenge when the party room meets next week.
Former Minister Darren Chester has confirmed overnight that he will oppose Joyce when the party meets on Monday in Canberra.
Victorian MP Darren Chester will challenge Barnaby Joyce for National Party leadership. (Dominic Lorrimer)
“We need to be honest with each other in the party hall and take some responsibility for the liberal losses in the city,” said Chester, who was a veteran affairs minister in Morrison’s former government.
“How we develop our policies, convey our message and work with our coalition partners in the future will determine whether we can return to government and offer to the regional communities.”
While nationals retained all 16 lower house seats in Saturday’s federal election, the Liberal Party lost many previously safe constituencies in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and many fell into the hands of independent “green green “.
Some Liberals have blamed Joyce’s criticism of the Coalition’s net zero-carbon target as damaging its chances in city and suburban seats.
Criticism of the Coalition’s zero net emissions target by Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce angered some Liberal MPs during the election campaign. (AAP)
National MPs expect former Federal Minister of Agriculture David Littleproud to also challenge the leadership on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sussan Ley seeks to become only the second female deputy leader of the Liberal Party, with Peter Dutton as the leader of the non-opposition party.
Its Liberal and Labor headquarters tell two different stories