Jeremy Hanson is expected to put his hand up for the leadership of the Canberra Liberals when the position is spilled at the first party room meeting after the election.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee conceded the Liberals had likely lost the ACT election on Saturday night, but offered no indication of her future plans.
"I do not know what the future holds for me. Don't ask. I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to be making any rash decisions," Ms Lee told Liberal supporters.
Mr Hanson wrote on Facebook the result for the Liberals have been very disappointing, particularly given there had been a mood for change.
"We should have done much better and instead the party has gone backwards in votes and seats since 2016 when we won 11 seats," Mr Hanson wrote.
"The people of Canberra need us to do better and I look forward to working hard over the next four years to serve my electorate but to also help position the Liberal Party for a much better result in 2028."
The statement has been widely interpreted by Liberal sources as Mr Hanson, the top polling candidate in Murrumbidgee, making a fresh pitch to lead the Canberra Liberals.
Mr Hanson, who made no comment on Sunday, also "liked" a series of comments from supporters which said he should be the next leader of the opposition.
Liberals who have backed Ms Lee are also understood to be frustrated how quickly she conceded the election result on Saturday night.
A tight race in Yerrabi, the northernmost seat, may still deliver a third independent into the Assembly, offering the Liberals a slim chance to negotiate a way into power.
Ms Lee on Saturday said she aware some conservative members of the Liberals were discussing a potential leadership change.
"That's politics," she told the ABC.
"I'm obviously going to have some conversations with a lot of people, including my family and those around me."
Nicole Lawder, the Brindabella Liberal who did not recontest her seat, said on the ABC's election night broadcast "it doesn't sit well with the general Canberra population to be far to the right".
Ms Lawder said she did not think the party membership was listening to efforts to drag the Liberals to the political middle ground.
Asked if powerful conservative players in the party needed to release the reins, Ms Lawder said she hoped they would.
"I fear they're going to say, 'We had a progressive leader in Elizabeth Lee and we still lost, so we need to lurch more to the right'," she said.
Ms Lawder said there some in the party who liked to be "kingmakers" who did not care whether the party won government in the ACT.
"Look, I think there are some people who are so ideologically driven that they would prefer to sabotage the pathway to winning," she said, before declining to name individuals.
However, some party insiders pointed to the high personal vote of Mr Hanson and Deputy Opposition Leader Leanne Castley, whom Labor had sought to brand as a conservative in a targeted advertising blitz, as evidence that being conservative was not an issue for the party.
Mr Hanson, 57, was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2008 and became opposition leader in February 2013.
After leading the party to a defeat at the 2016 election despite an improved performance for the Liberals, Mr Hanson did not contest the leadership ballot which installed Alistair Coe as opposition leader.
But Mr Hanson did contest the leadership ballot after the party's 2020 election defeat, losing to Elizabeth Lee. The Canberra Times reported at the time it understood Ms Lee beat Mr Hanson convincingly in the ballot.
Following the resignation of Giulia Jones, a fellow member for Murrumbidgee, in early 2022, Mr Hanson was elected deputy opposition leader by his colleagues.
Mr Hanson was acting opposition leader while Ms Lee was on maternity leave, but was dumped as deputy leader in December 2023 after weeks of tensions within the party.
Ms Castley beat Mr Hanson in a snap party room vote 5-3.
Mr Hanson said in a statement at the time: "I am disappointed to have been removed as deputy leader of the Canberra Liberals today.
"I will continue to work hard for our community as a loyal and passionate member of the Canberra Liberals team."
Ms Lee had declined to say whether she had asked Mr Hanson to resign from the position or whether she called the spill.
Mr Hanson had been at odds with Ms Lee over a ballot for the party's president at an annual general meeting last month, and insiders said Mr Hanson's position had become untenable after he took public positions at odds with Ms Lee.
