'I'm ready': NSW Liberals elect first-term MP Kellie Sloane as new leader

Friday, 21 November 2025 09:19

The former television journalist said the role was an "incredible honour and a huge responsibility".

Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane has been elected as the new NSW Liberal Party leader after Mark Speakman resigned following weeks of speculation.

Opposition whips Adam Crouch and Chris Rath confirmed Sloane was unanimously elected in a brief party room meeting this morning after shadow attorney-general and Wahroonga MP Alister Henskens backed out of the race.

Deputy leader Natalie Ward retained her position, helping create the first all-female leadership team in the state party's history.

Kellie Sloane, Liberal Vaucluse MP in Sydney, speaks about threats she has received after condemning a neo-nazi protest in Sydney.

Sloane said it was an "incredible honour, a huge responsibility" but she was "ready to work".

"What a day. A few moments ago, a united Liberal Party room endorsed me as the new leader, and it's an incredible honour, a huge responsibility, one I don't take lightly," she told reporters outside the party room.

"I'm ready to work for New South Wales, and I thank my colleagues for the faith and the trust that they've placed in me today."

The new leader will hold a press conference later today.

Sloane has had a quick rise to the top after only being a little over two years into her first term as Vaucluse MP and shadow health minister.

Before her election in 2023, she spent two decades as a television journalist for the major networks before entering communications and later becoming a business owner.

She made headlines just last week when she and independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender revealed they had received violent threats on social media after condemning a neo-Nazi photo-op outside NSW Parliament House.

The pair referred the matter to the police.

"I will not be bullied out of saying what I think, and I will stand up for people in my community and for the broader community of Sydney who don't like hate, who don't want division anymore, and who don't accept this kind of behaviour," Sloane said at the time.

Sloane swiftly became the frontrunner for the top role after gaining the support of senior members of the party and an endorsement from Speakman himself.

Mark Speakman has stood down as NSW Liberal leader.

Speakman had fiercely declared that "reports of my death have been grossly exaggerated" in a radio interview yesterday morning, and went as far as to say he would have to be "blasted out" of his role.

Not long after, he cancelled all his remaining interviews for the day and went silent.

By late afternoon, he was announcing his resignation.

Speakman said Sloane had approached him for the role, and he was made aware that the party was seeking "renewal and regeneration".

He said he "reluctantly agreed" and endorsed Sloane.

"Kellie Sloane will be a fantastic leader if selected by the parliamentary Liberal Party," he said.

"She is someone of enormous talent. She is not only a great communicator, she has extensive experience as a businesswoman.

"She is someone I hope will lead the Liberal Party to the next election. She will have my full support. She will have my endorsement."

Speakman was ousted just days after his Victorian counterpart, Brad Battin, also lost his position in a leadership spill to first-term MP Jess Wilson.

The NSW Nationals also recently elected Gurmesh Singh following Dugald Saunders' shock resignation.

Federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is fending off questions about whether her leadership is secure after weeks of infighting on the Coalition's net-zero policy.

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