Tony Abbott to be named new Liberal Party president
Tony Abbott is returning to political life as the Liberal Party's president. Photo: AAP
Former prime minister Tony Abbott will be nominated unopposed to become the next federal president of the Liberal Party.
Abbott served as prime minister from 2013 to 2015. The latest move signals his re-entry into the frontlines of politics.
He will be the only nominee for the conservative party’s top administrative role, which will be confirmed at a federal council meeting in Melbourne next week, a senior Liberal official said late on Friday.
“He’ll be elected unopposed,” the official said.
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer had also been vying for the top job in the party’s organisational wing, but withdrew after Abbott joined the field.
Downer will now contest for the vice president. He is one of five nominees for four second-in-command positions, an official said.
The new role will mark a return to the political stage for Abbott, who will succeed the current federal president, former South Australian senator John Olsen.
Abbott was deposed as prime minister in 2015 following a leadership spill led by then-colleague Malcolm Turnbull.
His re-entry into political life comes seven years after he lost his Sydney seat of Warringah to Independent Zali Steggall.at the 2019 election.
Abbott remains a hugely influential figure among conservative Liberals, including Angus Taylor, whose brother Charlie formally nominated Abbott for the presidency.
At the Sydney Writers’ Festival on Friday, Abbott told the crowd: “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.”
The Liberal Party’s Federal Council is made up of 14 delegates – including the president, parliamentary leader, president of the Young Liberal Movement, president of the Women’s Council and 10 others – from each state and the ACT.
-with AAP
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