Former special minister of state Mal Brough has announced he will not recontest at the next federal election.
Local Liberal National Party members had backed Mr Brough to run again in the seat on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, but his endorsement was held up by the party's state executive.
The LNP said Mr Brough made his own decision to quit. The party's Queensland state executive is currently meeting in Brisbane and will soon open nominations for a new candidate.
Mr Brough has been under pressure for months amid ongoing investigations by the Australian Federal Police, who are examining if he played a role in Mr Ashby obtaining copies of the then-speaker's diary in 2012.
In an interview with 60 Minutes in 2014, Mr Brough appeared to admit he did ask Mr Ashby to procure Mr Slipper's diary, but under sustained questioning from Labor late last year he cast doubt on that admission, telling Parliament "what was put to air was not the full question".
First-term MP and member for Barton, Nickolas Varvaris, has not nominated to run again in the seat, with preselection nominations closing a week ago.
Senior Liberal sources confirmed that Mr Varvaris had failed to renominate.
Barton now looks likely to be lost to Labor after a redistribution put the seat nominally back in Labor’s hands.
Other MPs are getting nervous. The member for the critical western Sydney seat of Lindsay, Fiona Scott, is considered highly vulnerable and is facing a backlash from pro-Abbott supporters for defecting to Mr Turnbull.
The two Liberal-held Central Coast seats are also in doubt as is the other Western Sydney seat of Macarthur, held by Russell Matheson.
The bell-weather seat of Eden Monaro is also now considered a high risk of being lost by Peter Hendy.
Local Liberal National Party members had backed Mr Brough to run again in the seat on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, but his endorsement was held up by the party's state executive.
The LNP said Mr Brough made his own decision to quit. The party's Queensland state executive is currently meeting in Brisbane and will soon open nominations for a new candidate.
Mr Brough has been under pressure for months amid ongoing investigations by the Australian Federal Police, who are examining if he played a role in Mr Ashby obtaining copies of the then-speaker's diary in 2012.
In an interview with 60 Minutes in 2014, Mr Brough appeared to admit he did ask Mr Ashby to procure Mr Slipper's diary, but under sustained questioning from Labor late last year he cast doubt on that admission, telling Parliament "what was put to air was not the full question".
First-term MP and member for Barton, Nickolas Varvaris, has not nominated to run again in the seat, with preselection nominations closing a week ago.
Senior Liberal sources confirmed that Mr Varvaris had failed to renominate.
Barton now looks likely to be lost to Labor after a redistribution put the seat nominally back in Labor’s hands.
Other MPs are getting nervous. The member for the critical western Sydney seat of Lindsay, Fiona Scott, is considered highly vulnerable and is facing a backlash from pro-Abbott supporters for defecting to Mr Turnbull.
The two Liberal-held Central Coast seats are also in doubt as is the other Western Sydney seat of Macarthur, held by Russell Matheson.
The bell-weather seat of Eden Monaro is also now considered a high risk of being lost by Peter Hendy.
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