Overview
- Mark Speakman will resign as NSW Liberal leader, with a formal announcement scheduled this afternoon, according to party sources.
- Kellie Sloane is positioned to succeed him, with earlier internal counts and senior MPs indicating she had the numbers to win a spill.
- Moderate backers told Speakman he had lost their support after he declined to act against Alister Henskens for briefing right‑wing colleagues on a leadership bid.
- Speakman had publicly insisted he would fight on earlier in the day, saying no colleague had formally approached him about a challenge.
- Weeks of unrest were driven by poor polling near 28 percent for the Coalition and turbulence across the broader Coalition, including federal climate policy shifts and a Nationals leadership change.