Liberal leadership: Jane Hume declares Sussan Ley has the Party’s support, not Angus Taylor, Andrew Hastie

Not-so-secret talks between Liberal leadership hopefuls Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor appears to have granted Sussan Ley more time as Opposition Leader.

On Thursday, WA’s Mr Hastie and NSW’s Mr Taylor came face-to-face at an unsuspecting Melbourne suburban home, where the two are understood to have discussed the current state of the Liberal Party under Ms Ley, and plans for a challenge.

The two men, both who believe they are the right man for the job, reportedly refused to back down or concede to the other to consolidate support, meaning the first female leader of the Federal Liberal Party, Ms Ley, may have the number.

Liberal Senator Jane Hume said on Friday that “Sussan Ley is the leader and she continues to have the support of her party room”.

“It was an entirely unedifying moment,” Senator Hume said.

“(The) important thing here is that there is no challenge to Susan Ley’s leadership. No one has put their hand up and said, ‘I am going to lead the Liberal Party’.”

Taking a jab at Mr Hastie and Mr Taylor, Senator Hume said it was lucky that the men weren’t spies, saying their “secret meeting” was on full display to all.

Senator Hume wouldn’t be drawn on why Mr Hastie and Mr Taylor couldn’t agree on one of them folding, and went on to insist that Ms Ley has the support of both the party room and her shadow cabinet.

“What I would say is that the Liberal Opposition is at its very best when we are unified, when we’re focused on the job at hand, which is holding a bad Labor Government to account.”

Senator Hume accepted that the Liberal Party wasn’t offering a “credible” offering to Australian voters.

She said before the next election, the Opposition must ensure “Australians can see that the Liberal Party is the choice that represents their hopes and their aspirations”.

“We are not doing that right now,” she admitted bluntly.

However, Senator Hume suggested the blame didn’t sit solely with the Liberals.

“Quite clearly, starting with the dummy spit from our our Coalition partners, right now we need to be (focused on) the job at hand.

“The economy is tanking, inflation is going up. The growth is backwards, and living standards are going (down).

“That’s what we should be talking about every single day, not ourselves.”

Politicians return to Canberra next week after the summer break, which included a short emergency-sitting of Parliament to push through new laws in response to the Bondi Beach terror attack.

That short sitting resulted in Labor passing new hate speech laws and gun reforms, the Coalition splitting up, a Nationals leadership challenge being announced and intense speculation over the Liberal leadership.

The Nationals will meet on Monday where MP Colin Boyce will challenge Nationals Leader David Littleproud for the leadership after the Party split from the Coalition, a split that was announced on the National Day or Mourning for the victims of the Bondi terror attack.

Although Mr Boyce has announced he will challenge Mr Littleproud to lead the Nationals, there is speculation the fed-up MP could defect to One Nation, following in the steps of former National Barnaby Joyce, if he is unsuccessful.

The Liberal Party will meet on Tuesday, which could occur under a new Nationals leader, something that could lead to the reunification of the Coalition. So Ms Ley still has a few big days ahead to hold on to her reported support.