Brad Battin, having rolled Pesutto, promises unity and makes ...

The party voted overwhelmingly for Deeming’s return. A short time after the ballot, she walked into the party room wearing a blue blazer, the traditional Liberal colour.

After the vote, Deeming said Pesutto shook her hand and personally apologised during the party room meeting. “I have to actually give credit to John Pesutto,” she said, adding that she had accepted his apology and took no glee from his removal as leader.

“He has apologised to me today, and that’s the end of it. The only thing left is just officially retracting the defamatory documents, and we’re done.”

The spill motion against Pesutto was precipitated by Deeming’s protracted defamation case against him, Federal Court justice David O’Callaghan’s damning findings in her favour and last week’s shock party room ballot when a vote on her readmission split the party 14-14.

O’Callaghan two weeks ago found Pesutto defamed Deeming as a Nazi sympathiser in the days after the Let Women Speak rally that she helped organise in March 2023 was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Pesutto kicked her out of the Liberal party room shortly after, and last week’s ballot was the first time that decision was tested in the party room. Following a tumultuous week marked by febrile leadership speculation, Pesutto changed his mind and said he would allow Deeming to return after all. But it was too little, too late to save his leadership.

Loading

Former tennis star and first-term MP Sam Groth was elected unopposed as deputy Liberal leader, replacing David Southwick, while energy spokesperson David Davis was selected to replace Georgie Crozier as upper house leader, also unopposed.

Evan Mulholland will continue to serve as deputy leader in the upper house. His re-election was the sole win for the moderates on Friday. He won 15 votes to 13 against Western Victoria MP Beverley McArthur. The margin suggests that at least two of Battin’s supporters refused to back the elevation of McArthur, an arch-conservative and key ally of Deeming.

Nationals leader Danny O’Brien congratulated Battin on his victory and said the Coalition needed to offer a “united alterative” to defeat Labor at the 2026 election.

Battin said he would consult widely with his colleagues before making any appointments to shadow cabinet. Three party sources confirmed that James Newbury, a former supporter of Pesutto who switched allegiance to Battin, had been promised shadow treasury.

Battin will also come under pressure to use his frontbench to address the gender imbalance of his leadership team.

One Liberal MP gawked at the all-male line-up, while a former Liberal MP said it left the party vulnerable to Labor attack. “In this day and age, not having any women in the leadership team is not a great look,” they said.

Wilson, considered a moderate and rising star, finished third in the first-round ballot, leaving Battin and Crewther as the candidates in the final vote, which Battin won 21-7. An early vote on a Pesutto suggestion to allow MPs currently overseas from casting their ballots remotely was defeated. This meant that Cindy McLeish, Nick McGowan and Richard Welch were unable to vote. Pesutto had said he would not stand in a contest for leader if the spill motion passed, which it did.

Battin had previously contested the leadership in 2021 but failed to oust former party leader Michael O’Brien. He then lost to Pesutto by one vote shortly after the party’s 2022 election loss.

Pesutto exited the party room flanked by his former leadership team Crozier and Southwick. “I congratulate Brad Battin, we’ve known each other for a long time,” he said. Wilson said the party needed to come together after Friday’s vote and focus on winning the 2026 election.

Loading

Battin and his new team will face an immediate electoral test in the byelection in Prahran, an inner-city, Greens-held seat that goes to the polls on February 8. This will be followed by a byelection in Werribee, an outer-suburban electorate typical of the kind Battin is now targeting in his attempt to return the Liberals to government for the first time since 2014. The Werribee byelection was prompted by the resignation of former treasurer Tim Pallas, and the seat of Prahran is in play after Greens MP Sam Hibbins resigned.

Asked on ABC Radio before Friday’s ballot who she would prefer to face as opposition leader, Premier Jacinta Allan said she would “leave the Liberal Party infighting to the Liberal Party”.

In a statement, Health Minister and Leader of the House Mary-Anne Thomas described Battin as the “most extreme Liberal leader in history”.

“The first thing he did as leader is outline his plan for cutting frontline services that Victorians rely on. He has put together a right-wing leadership that doesn’t include any women,” Thomas said

As Liberal MPs headed home to resume their interrupted Christmas holidays, their focus turned to the shape of the new shadow cabinet, the identity of Battin’s key advisers and whether their party was closer or further away from beating Labor.