Michael McCormack suggests Barnaby Joyce’s unpopularity in inner city contributed to Coalition’s loss

Michael McCormack says there were ‘no campaigns against [me] … in inner-city seats’, a nod to warnings that a vote for the Liberals was a ‘vote for Barnaby Joyce’. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Michael McCormack has suggested that Barnaby Joyce’s unpopularity in the inner city contributed to the Coalition government’s downfall in climate-conscious electorates.

The former Nationals leader, who has not ruled out recontesting the leadership, told Guardian Australia there were “no campaigns against my name and my reputation in inner-city seats” – a clear reference to warnings from independents and Greens that a vote for Liberal moderates was a “vote for Barnaby Joyce”.