The 2023 Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division) leadership election is a
leadership election that was held on 21 April 2023 following the
party's defeat by the
Labor Party at the
2023 election and the resignation of leader and former
PremierDominic Perrottet.
Mark Speakman (of the party's
Moderate faction) and
Anthony Roberts (of the
Conservative faction) were the two declared candidates. Speakman defeated Roberts by 22 votes (62.86%) to 13 (37.14%). For the deputy leadership,
Natalie Ward defeated
Wendy Tuckerman by 27 votes (77.14%) to eight (22.86%) after the party overwhelmingly voted to allow members of both houses to run for the deputy leadership.[2]
Background
Dominic Perrottet became
Premier of New South Wales in 2021 after the resignation of
Gladys Berejiklian following an inquiry from the
ICAC. Perrottet's leadership and policies came under scrutiny during the election campaign, with some critics blaming him for the government's handling of issues such as the
COVID-19 pandemic and some calling for his resignation following
revelations that he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday. On election night, Perrottet conceded to
Chris Minns from Labor Party and resigned as the leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party.