Liberal Party MPs are starting to count the numbers in a bid to replace Peter Dutton (main picture) as their federal leader.

The move to depose Mr Dutton is understood to be fuelled by a sudden rethink among Liberal MPs about their choice of him as leader following the Coalition’s loss of the May 2022 election.

“The fact that I and many of my colleagues are having second thoughts about Peter as leader is directly linked to his continuing policy push for nuclear power and his relentlessly negative attacks on the Albanese Government,” one disgruntled Liberal MP told The Bug on condition of anonymity.

“The recent internal polling showing nuclear power is not a big vote winner is just the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as the Dutton leadership goes.”

Reports emerged at the weekend of focus group research conducted by the Coalition in the Hunter Valley in NSW and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria showing voter hostility towards the Dutton plan for nuclear power plants replacing coal-fired power stations in those two areas. (below)

“It’s made many Liberal MPs reflect on why they supported him as leader in the first place, and many of us are feeling duped,” another unnamed Liberal MP said.

“For instance when we got thrown out of office it was Dutton who was the most appealing option to me and most of my colleagues because in all the conversations he had seeking support he looked everyone in the eye and told them he would be pushing nothing else but what we thought he was describing as ‘new clear policies’.

“That was very refreshing and appealing after the unmitigated disaster that was Scomo.

“But when many of us think back, we now understand we didn’t quite grasp what we were getting into.

“The same goes for when we asked him at the time how he as opposition leader would handle Albo as PM.

“We were all very encouraged when he kept saying that when it came to how he would respond to whatever Albo did he would know.

“In fact he said things like ‘nobody knows as well as I do’ and ‘I just know’ and ‘that’s all I do, I just no’.

“But now, looking back, most of us think we should have got all that in writing,” the MP said.

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