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.
