The Australian has reported that many MPs who supported Malcolm Turnbull in last year’s leadership spill have lost their seats, suggesting that voters had turned on the likes of Peter Hendy, Wyatt Roy and Fiona Scott because they had deserted Tony Abbott. It’s an interesting line to run, considering the number of Liberal MPs who have lost their seats includes Abbott backers Andrew Nikolic, Jamie Briggs and even two of the women considered part of “Tony’s Angels” — Karen McNamara and Natasha Griggs. As the list of Liberal MPs to lose their seats is confirmed over the next few days, the theory may continue to struggle to hold up.
Did voters really kick out Turnbull supporters?
Did voters make MPs pay for their role in the leadership spill last year? Let's look at who got voted out among Abbott and Turnbull supporters.
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Do voters subordinate their own interests to take revenge for internal actions of the Libs? Seems unlikely.
Wyatt Roy was flicked because of his attitude. Briggs & Jermyn were flicked because of their juvenile behaviour. Nikolic was flicked because of his aggressiveness. Mirrabella was flicked because she was, simply, unelectable. The lesson? Get your preselections in order.
… indeed, further to Nikolic and others getting the flick (good riddance!!!) … conservative hero Peter Dutton suffered a large swing against him of 5.8% (much greater than the average swing for Queensland…) … and then descended into an angry rant that the swing was caused by bikies and union thugs …