Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is likely to hold onto her job as for at least another week as conservative agitators struggle to coalesce around a single candidate.

Liberal frontbencher Angus Taylor and backbencher Andrew Hastie are widely seen as the two most likely replacements for Ley, whose critics say she has presided over a steady slide in the opinion polls and failed to lead properly.

But neither man appears willing to cede ground, despite secret talks at a home in Melbourne’s suburbs on Thursday to try to thrash out a compromise.

Hastie and Taylor were captured on video by The Australian entering Thursday’s meeting, accompanied by other Liberals, including senators James Paterson and Jonno Duniam.

Ley’s supporters believe she has the numbers to hold onto the leadership for now, because the conservative vote will be divided while both MPs remain in the race.

Taylor ran unsuccessfully against Ley for the party leadership after the Coalition’s horror federal election result in May.

Backers of Hastie, a former SAS soldier who was opposition home affairs spokesman until he moved to the back bench to speak more freely about immigration issues, have been loudly claiming he has the numbers to win.

Ley’s camp hotly disputes that suggestion.

Parliament returns next week, when tensions within the Liberals are expected to flare.

While Hastie’s side had hoped to roll Ley on Monday or Tuesday, the ongoing split over who should challenge for the job appears likely to delay any spill.

Sources have confirmed a vote is unlikely next week – although if a consensus candidate was to agreed upon, the challenge could move quickly.

Liberal backbencher Ben Small added to the leadership speculation by nailing his colours to the mast on Thursday, declaring his support for Hastie.

“Australia does best when it has a good government and a strong opposition. Presently, we have neither,” he said.

“Generational change is key to reconnecting to voters who have simply stopped listening to the Liberal Party, but I need to be clear – changing salespeople alone does not help.

“The Liberal Party needs to speak clearly again, without being afraid of what we believe in.

“I have come to the deeply considered view that Andrew Hastie is the right person to lead the Liberal Party, should an opportunity to lead arise.”

Meanwhile, former Coalition partner the Nationals will have their own leadership contest on Monday.

Queensland backbencher Colin Boyce has declared he will move against David Littleproud when parliament returns next week, arguing the leader had twice “blown the Coalition up” since the federal election in May and failed to provide stability.

“That is not a position I want to be in,” he told ABC Radio on Thursday.

Boyce, however, has admitted he has not begun canvassing colleagues for votes, insisting the spill motion is not designed to clear the way for another contender.

On Thursday, former Nationals leader and deputy PM John Anderson said the chaos sparked by the messy Coalition divorce meant neither party was able to do its job properly.

“The Nationals absolutely have to recognise the national imperatives here,” he said.

While Anderson would not be drawn on the impending spill triggered by Boyce, he urged the parties to unify to restore the national interest and put the Australian people above politics.

“This is a serious, really serious situation for Australia. We are in serious decline as a nation and we’ve lost our direction,” he said.

“A government won’t perform without an effective opposition and an opposition that people actually believe can be taken seriously as an alternative government.”

Influential senators Matt Canavan and Michael McCormack won’t support the spill motion in the party room on Monday.

—with AAP