Harvey resigns leadership, Kirkup and Nalder in the race for top job

“As we head towards the March 13 election, every Western Australian voter needs to be clear. You’ll be electing a government to take control for the next four years.

“Prior to COVID-19 this Labor government was a do-nothing government. They had no achievements.

“While they’ve done a good job in closing the borders, the difficult job was always going to be coming out of lockdown. It’s very clear the Labor government have no plan for this.”

Ms Harvey said the decision would give Liberal candidates, including those who had resigned jobs to run for the party, “clean air”.

Mr Kirkup said Ms Harvey had “done an exceptional job in the toughest of circumstances, and the party will be forever in her debt”.

“Her compassion and determination for our state is second to none and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work alongside her,” he said.

“As for the Liberal leadership, I can confirm I will be a candidate. I think it is vitally important that we have a unified team to go to the next election and make sure that the people of Western Australia have a real choice.”

Ms Harvey said she would use the 111 days before the election to campaign for re-election in her seat of Scarborough.

She said she hoped to be a senior member in a future Liberal government.

Speculation over Ms Harvey’s leadership peaked before the last scheduled meeting of all state Liberal politicians before the election two weeks ago.

But a challenge did not materialise.

This left Ms Harvey unassailable, with a change only likely if she decided to step down on her own terms.

The party has been polling across the state over the last few weeks, with MPs given a high-level briefing at the meeting two weeks ago.

Liberal MPs were supportive of Ms Harvey ahead of the last sitting of Parliament which wrapped up last week.

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But Darling Range MP Alyssa Hayden said she should stay as leader until after the election because the party had “no polling to say otherwise”.

Party powerbrokers Peter Collier and Nick Goiran were both said to support Ms Harvey’s leadership.

Other possible leadership contenders are Cottesloe MP David Honey, Churchlands MP Sean L’Estrange and Vasse MP Libby Mettam.

Liberals ‘unstable and risky’: Premier

Mr McGowan said the departure of Ms Harvey proved the Liberals were “unstable and risky”.

“We live in a pandemic and a world that is melting down with countries in all sorts of trouble all over the world and Western Australia is a beacon of doing well, a beacon to the entire world,” he said.

“I don’t think we should risk that, I don’t think we should risk it and I think changing government in March is a huge risk and particularly when the Liberal party is so unstable and so disunited.”

Mr McGowan would not comment on which Liberal he would face at the election, but said: “If you want to be Premier of the state you’ve got to actually have experience both in government and opposition.

“You need to have fought for it,” he said. “You need to have worked for it, you need to want it if you want to be the Premier of that state.”