CANBERRA, ACT. — Former prime minister Tony Abbott will be nominated unopposed to become the next federal president of the Liberal Party.
Mr Abbott will be the only nominee for the conservative party’s top administrative role, which will be confirmed at a federal council meeting in Melbourne next week, a senior Liberal official told AAP late on Friday.
“He’ll be elected unopposed,” the official said, referring to Mr Abbott, who served as coalition prime minister from 2013 to 2015.
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer has been nominated for vice president of the party – one of five nominees for four second-in-command positions, the official said.
Mr Downer will contest for the vice president role after withdrawing from a race with Mr Abbot for the top job in the party’s organisational wing, local media reported.
It is widely speculated that former PM Abbott may use his new role as Federal President of the Liberal Party to be ‘parachuted’ into a safe Liberal seat, possibly taking on a One Nation candidate in a contest of who can be the most bigoted racist.
The new role will mark a return to the political stage for Mr Abbott after he lost his Sydney seat of Warringah at the 2019 federal election.
