The leader of the Liberal Party, also known as leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, is the highest office within the Liberal Party of Australia, as well as within the Liberal–National Coalition. The incumbent leader is Angus Taylor, who was elected on 13 February 2026.
History The Liberal Party leadership was first held by Robert Menzies, a former leader of the United Australia Party and co–founder of the Liberal Party along with eighteen political organisations and groups.
Following the ousting of two Liberal prime ministers in three years, the then leader, Scott Morrison, proposed a new threshold to trigger a Liberal Party leadership change if the party was in government, requiring two-thirds of the party room to vote to initiate a spill motion. The change was agreed to at an hour-long party room meeting on the evening of 3 December 2018. Morrison said the changes, which were drafted with feedback from former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, would only apply to those who led the party to victory at a federal election.
Role Since the days of Menzies, the Liberal Party has either been in government in a coalition or in opposition to Labor. Thus, the leader of the Liberal Party has always served as either the Prime Minister of Australia or the Leader of the Opposition. Furthermore, the leader picks the Cabinet and is also the leader of the Coalition. The Liberal Party has only had one leader of the party from the Senate, John Gorton, for a brief period in January 1968 before he resigned from the Senate to contest the Higgins by-election in February 1968.
Leaders of the Liberal Party
+List of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1945No. Leader(birth–death) Portrait Electorate Took officeLeft officeElection contested Prime Minister 1Robert Menzies(1894–1978)Kooyong, Vic.21 February 194520 January 196619461949195119541955195819611963Curtin Forde Chifley Himself 2 Harold Holt(1908–1967) Higgins, Vic. 20 January 1966 (unopposed) 17 December 1967 (died in office)1966 Himself 3John Gorton(1911–2002)Senator for Victoria Higgins, Vic.9 January 1968 (elected)10 March 19711969McEwen Himself 4William McMahon(1908–1988)Lowe, NSW10 March 1971 (elected)20 December 19721972 Himself Whitlam 5 Billy Snedden(1926–1987) Bruce, Vic. 20 December 1972 (elected) 21 March 197519746Malcolm Fraser(1930–2015)Wannon, Vic.21 March 1975 (elected)11 March 19831975197719801983 Himself Hawke 7 Andrew Peacock(1939–2021) Kooyong, Vic. 11 March 1983 (elected) 5 September 19851984 8 John Howard(b. 1939) Bennelong, NSW 5 September 1985 (elected) 9 May 19891987 (7) Andrew Peacock(1939–2021) Kooyong, Vic. 9 May 1989 (elected) 3 April 199019909John Hewson(b. 1946)Wentworth, NSW3 April 1990 (elected)23 May 19941993Keating 10 Alexander Downer(b. 1951) Mayo, SA 23 May 1994 (elected) 30 January 1995None(8)John Howard(b. 1939)Bennelong, NSW30 January 1995 (unopposed)29 November 200719961998200120042007 Himself 11 Brendan Nelson(b. 1958) Bradfield, NSW 29 November 2007 (elected) 16 September 2008NoneRudd 12 Malcolm Turnbull(b. 1954) Wentworth, NSW 16 September 2008 (elected) 1 December 200913Tony Abbott(b. 1957)Warringah, NSW1 December 2009 (elected)14 September 201520102013Gillard Rudd Himself (12) Malcolm Turnbull(b. 1954) Wentworth, NSW 14 September 2015 (elected) 24 August 20182016 Himself 14Scott Morrison(b. 1968)Cook, NSW24 August 2018 (elected)30 May 202220192022 Himself Albanese 15 Peter Dutton(b. 1970) Dickson, Qld. 30 May 2022 (unopposed) 5 May 20252025 16 Sussan Ley(b. 1961) Farrer, NSW 13 May 2025 (elected) 13 February 2026 None 17 Angus Taylor(b. 1966) Hume, NSW 13 February 2026 (elected) Incumbent None
Federal leaders by time in office This list ranks federal leaders of the Liberal Party by their time in office. Leaders that also served as Prime Minister are in bold. Where leaders served non-consecutive terms, their total time as leader is ranked together. Rank Leader Time in office 1 1st Robert Menzies 20 years, 333 days 2 8th John Howard 16 years, 184 days 3 6th Malcolm Fraser 7 years, 355 days 4 13th Tony Abbott 5 years, 287 days 5 12th Malcolm Turnbull 4 years, 59 days 6 9th John Hewson 4 years, 50 days 7 14th Scott Morrison 3 years, 279 days 8 7th Andrew Peacock 3 years, 142 days 9 3rd John Gorton 3 years, 59 days 10 15th Peter Dutton 2 years, 338 days 11 5th Billy Snedden 2 years, 91 days 12 2nd Harold Holt 1 year, 333 days 13 4th William McMahon 1 year, 270 days 14 11th Brendan Nelson 292 days 15 16th Sussan Ley 276 days 16 10th Alexander Downer 252 days 17 17th Angus Taylor
Federal deputy leaders
# Name State Term start Term end Duration Leader(s) 1 New South Wales 21 February 1945 26 September 1956 Robert Menzies 2 Victoria 26 September 1956 20 January 1966 3 New South Wales 20 January 1966 10 March 1971 Harold HoltJohn Gorton 4 Victoria 10 March 1971 16 August 1971 William McMahon 5 Victoria 18 August 1971 20 December 1972 6 Victoria 20 December 1972 8 April 1982 Billy SneddenMalcolm Fraser 7 New South Wales 8 April 1982 5 September 1985 Malcolm FraserAndrew Peacock 8 Victoria 5 September 1985 17 July 1987 John Howard 9 Victoria 17 July 1987 9 May 1989 10 Western Australia 9 May 1989 3 April 1990 Andrew Peacock 11 Victoria 24 March 1990 13 March 1993 John Hewson 12 Victoria 13 March 1993 23 May 1994 13 Victoria 23 May 1994 29 November 2007 Alexander DownerJohn Howard 14 Western Australia 29 November 2007 24 August 2018 Brendan NelsonMalcolm TurnbullTony Abbott 15 Victoria 24 August 2018 30 May 2022 Scott Morrison 16 New South Wales 30 May 2022 13 May 2025 Peter DuttonHerself (acting) 17 Queensland 13 May 2025 13 February 2026 Sussan Ley18Victoria13 February 2026IncumbentAngus Taylor
Leaders in the Senate Leader Term began Term ended Portfolio Status Parliamentary leader Term in office Deputy Neil O'Sullivan 21 February 1950 8 December 1958 Government Menzies Bill Spooner 8 December 1958 2 June 1964 Shane Paltridge Shane Paltridge 10 June 1964 19 January 1966 Defence Denham Henty Denham Henty 26 January 1966 16 October 1967 SupplyHolt John Gorton John Gorton 16 October 1967 1 February 1968 Denham Henty None Himself Ken Anderson 28 February 1968 5 December 1972 Gorton Annabelle Rankin McMahon Reg Wright Reg Withers 20 December 1972 11 November 1975 Opposition Snedden Opposition Fraser 12 November 1975 7 August 1978 Government John Carrick 7 August 1978 11 March 1983 Fred Chaney 11 March 1983 27 February 1990 Opposition Peacock Howard Peacock Robert Hill 3 April 1990 11 March 1996 Hewson Education, Science and Technology Downer Howard 11 March 1996 20 January 2006 Government Howard Nick Minchin Nick Minchin 27 January 2006 3 December 2007 Helen Coonan 3 December 2007 3 May 2010 Defence Opposition Nelson Eric Abetz Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Turnbull Resources and Energy Abbott Eric Abetz 3 May 2010 18 September 2013 Employment and Workplace Relations George Brandis 18 September 2013 21 September 2015 Employment Government George Brandis 21 September 2015 20 December 2017 Attorney-GeneralV-P Exec. Council Turnbull Mathias Cormann Mathias Cormann 20 December 2017 30 October 2020 Finance and the Public ServiceV-P Exec. Council Mitch FifieldSimon Birmingham Morrison Simon Birmingham 30 October 2020 25 January 2025FinanceTrade, Tourism and Investment (to Dec 2020)V-P Exec. Council Michaelia Cash Foreign Affairs Opposition Dutton Michaelia Cash 25 January 2025 IncumbentEmployment and Workplace Relations (to Apr 2023)Attorney General (Apr 2023–May 2025) Anne RustonForeign AffairsLeyAttorney GeneralTaylor
See also
Leader of the Australian Labor Party
Notes
References