Jeremy Hanson has confirmed he will seek the leadership of the Canberra Liberals, arguing the party cannot shy away from its centre-right position and needs to make a centrist case that resonates with ACT voters.
Mr Hanson said an argument about conservatism versus progressivism in the Liberals was wrong, and showed members had accepted Labor's framing of the party's fortunes.
"We are a big tent and I think these are the issues that matter less to the Canberrans who are voting for us. And you can see the Liberal party vote is broadly in the suburbs - it's families and retirees in the suburbs," he said.
Elizabeth Lee has been opposition leader since 2020, and made no commitments on her future in an election night speech to Liberal supporters.
Mr Hanson said voters were not as concerned about the political positions of individual candidates, pointing to ticket-topping results for Leanne Castley in Yerrabi, Peter Cain in Ginninderra and his own result in Murrumbidgee as a sign that being branded conservative did not harm the Liberals' result.
"And when people vote for the Labor Party and whoever the chief minister, or whoever their member is, I don't think they're concerned about which faction they're from," he told The Canberra Times.
Mr Hanson said the opposition leader needed to look credible, as well as have experience, maturity and the aptitude to be chief minister.
"I'm not saying that [Ms Lee does not have those qualities]. I'm saying that, moving forward, I believe that I have those qualities and given my argument about where the leader needs to sit, I'm in the best position to lead the party to victory in 2028," he said.
Mr Hanson believes the Liberal leader needs to sit in either Murrumbidgee, his electorate, or Yerrabi, to capitalise on the effect where a party leader can gain enough votes to third seat in a five-member electorate.
"Given that we've proven that we can get three in Brindabella and the leader can't get two in Kurrajong, then it's logical the leader should come from either Yerrabi or Murrumbidgee, where we can three seats," he said.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee retained her seat in Kurrajong, which covers the inner north and parts of the inner south, but the Liberals suffered a 4 per cent swing against them. The Liberals have not held two seats in Kurrajong since 2020.
Mr Hanson said it was a mistake not to talk about the decriminalisation of heroin and methamphetamine, which he said an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare survey showed 90 per cent of Canberrans opposed.
"We can't hide from who we are as Liberals. We have to be a broad church and we have to draw a line in the sand as an entirely united Liberal Party and not worry about putting labels on people where they might sit," he said.
"It should be based on competence, experience and willingness to work hard."
Mr Hanson said the Liberals needed to present a very clear policy alternative and a reason to shift their vote to the party, and away from Labor, independents and the Greens.
"When I was last leader, in an environment that was far less favourable, the vote was quite a bit bigger and we were able to get 11 seats and we were on the cusp of 12," Mr Hanson said.
"We should have done much better in this election. This election is where we should have been growing significantly in the number of seats and getting into government, and we haven't done that."
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. Mr Hanson unsuccessfully contested the leadership ballot after the party's 2020 election defeat, losing to Ms Lee.
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.
