Mark Speakman is brokering deals across the political spectrum to promise a smooth transition of power ahead of Friday’s New South Wales Liberal leadership vote as the contest to be upper house leader heats up.
The state party’s most senior woman, Natalie Ward, will put her name forward to lead the Liberals in the upper house against likely challenger, Damien Tudehope.
Guardian Australia understands Ward was approached by party members to run for the position because she was unable to run for the party’s leadership, given that she sits in the upper house.
A member of the state party executive described Ward as the future of the Liberals in NSW if the party allowed it.
Multiple senior Liberals confirmed that Speakman, a former attorney general, who has not yet formally announced he will run for the top job, has begun shoring up support.
He is seen by many within the party as a “safe pair of hands” who is not overly factional and who has proven himself while in government, delivering major reforms, including affirmative consent laws.
There was speculation Speakman, who represents Cronulla, would take the former prime minister Scott Morrison’s federal seat of Cook if he decided to step down.
But senior party sources say that would be a misstep given how far in the wilderness the federal team is compared with the NSW team, which remains hopeful of being returned to power in four years.
The former premier Dominic Perrottet has also regained confidence in the party’s election possibilities after the Liberals managed to hang on in a number of key seats that were predicted to fall to Labor and independents on election night.
It is understood that under the Speakman deal, the former treasurer Matt Kean would likely be handed the shadow health role, which would keep him in a prominent frontbench position while adding to his CV before a potential future tilt at federal politics.
The ambitious Hornsby MP ruled himself out of the leadership race shortly after the election, saying the election result would enable him to spend more time with his family, and that he would continue to work hard for his electorate.
Also in the mix for the top job are the former rightwing frontbencher and Lane Cove MP, Anthony Roberts, and the former sports minister Alister Henskens. Neither of the men responded to request for comment on Monday.
A senior Liberal figure – who spoke on the condition of anonymity – said the party needed to prove to those voters it lost at the election that it was willing to boost “highly professional, successful women” who “connect with the community”.
“We have got some outstanding women in the Liberal party but we’ve got to give them a go,” the figure said.
In the upper house ballot, Ward is likely to face Tudehope, a former finance minister.
Tudehope resigned from cabinet in the lead-up to the state election, saying he did not want revelations that he held shares in the major toll road owner Transurban to be a distraction for the party.
At the time, Perrottet said legal advice from the Department of Premier and Cabinet had cleared Tudehope of “knowingly” breaching the ministerial code of conduct.
Other party figures who spoke to Guardian Australia on Monday said they want to see more women elevated into cabinet, including the North Shore MP, Felicity Wilson, who saw off an impressive teal challenger in March, and the new Vaucluse MP, Kellie Sloane.
“We’ve got to be brave and promote our women – that will show the electorate that we have listened,” one said.
The new leader will be voted in at a party room meeting on Friday, almost a month after Perrottet’s resignation from the role on election night.
