Australia's richest politician, Malcolm Turnbull, was elected leader of the conservative opposition yesterday but analysts said he would struggle to end the disunity plaguing the Liberal Party after its worst-ever election defeat last year.
The leadership vote, called by former leader Brendan Nelson on Monday night, took everyone by surprise, including his shadow cabinet.
The move ended months of leadership speculation, fed by bad polls and the refusal of former Howard government treasurer and deputy leader Peter Costello to say when he would leave Parliament.
Rumours that Mr Costello would stand for the leadership reached a crescendo in the lead-up to the publication of his memoirs this week. When Mr Costello finally revealed he was not interested, expectations mounted that Mr Turnbull would mount a challenge.
Dr Nelson initiated the leadership ballot in a bold bid to head off the move after nearly 10 months of poor polling, with his rating as preferred prime minister hovering around 17 per cent. He lost the party ballot in Canberra by 41 votes to 45.
He last faced off against Mr Turnbull, the federal member for the seat of Wentworth - home to Bondi Beach - after the Liberal Party's devastating loss, winning by a narrow margin of three votes.