NSW Liberal Leader Remains Secure From Leadership Challenge After By-election Loss

New South Wales (NSW) Liberal MP Kellie Sloane has ruled out a challenge to Opposition leader Mark Speakman following the Kiama by-election.

Labor won the state seat after former Liberal turned independent Gareth Ward stepped down following a jury finding him guilty of sexual assault.

Labor candidate Katelin McInerney achieved 37.5 percent of the primary vote while Liberal candidate Serena Copley received 26 percent.

On a two-party preferred basis, the Labor Party won 60 percent of the primary vote compared to 40 percent for the Liberals.

Sloane, the member for Vaucluse in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, was touted as a potential leadership candidate in the future.

However, on Sept. 14, she ruled out challenging Speakman ahead of a Liberal Party room meeting on Sept. 16.

“On Tuesday, I will not challenge Mark. He has my support, and I’m not even sure anything’s going to happen on Tuesday,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Former Liberal Gareth Ward won Kiama in the 2011 election before switching to independent in 2025. Prior to Ward holding the seat, it was in Labor’s hands from 1981 to 2011.

Speakman ‘Supremely Confident’

Speakman said he was “supremely confident” he won’t face a challenge to his leadership.

“I don’t expect there to be any spill motion. It is a difficult job being opposition leader. It’s often described as the toughest job in politics,” he said on ABC Sydney on Sept. 15.

“I knew that when I took it on, I knew that we are the underdogs, the government is almost on the cusp of a majority in parliament. I knew all that when I took the job on, but I am determined to give it my best shot.”

Speakman said his team will develop a great set of policies to take to people at the next election.

Commenting on the by-election result, he said, “you can’t say it’s unexpected.”

He admitted if the NSW Liberals received only a 26 percent vote at the next general election, they would lose a “whole swag of seats.”

“But even then, it’s not about MPs and keeping their jobs, it’s about our responsibility to be representing the people of NSW and coming up with a solid set of policies to take to the next election,” he said.

Speakman disagreed that his leadership was on borrowed time.

“I am not going to be distracted by anonymous gossip and anonymous chatter. There are too many things at stake in NSW and my focus is always on the voters, not on the politicians.”

Speakman also said Sloane had “absolutely outstanding potential” as a future Liberal leader.

“That’s why I put her on the frontbench immediately upon her election … she absolutely has great talent and I think she has great potential to be the leader one day,” he said.

McInerney is a former journalist and union organiser who grew up in Kiama and worked at the Illawarra Mercury and Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

Celebrating her win, she vowed to be a strong local voice for the community in a post to Facebook on Sept. 13.

Minns Says Victory Not a ‘Pat on the Back’

Despite the win, NSW Premier Chris Minns said he did not believe the win was a “pat on the back” for the Labor government.

“I think it was just an invitation to work harder,” Minns told ABC Sydney Breakfast.

“My sense is there are a lot of challenges in NSW that the voters, a lot of families, a lot of communities under a lot of pressure at the moment.”

He said the voters believed Labor were best placed to confront those challenges but he was also wary the mandate could run out.

“If we don’t start delivering, particularly on those essential services, then we will not win the next election,” he said.