Ley adrift amid conservative chaos while Littleproud shoots his other foot |
Despite her rictus smile, the federal Liberals' first female leader is running fast towards a brick wall of impatient male ambition.
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Walls usually fare better - human flesh yielding in much the same way as bricks don't.
But that doesn't make a collision right for an unpopular Liberal-Nationals combination at risk of being eclipsed by One Nation on primary vote share whether together or apart.
In a heroic rebuttal of the clear democratic-demographic message from voters in last year's electoral tsunami, the Liberal Party's conservatives have had enough of what one called "an experiment [with Sussan Ley] that hasn't connected".
Believing they have a majority in the party room, hardliners want to hark back, double-down and muscle-up.
This, after losing almost every urban contest to Labor and centrist independent candidates (mainly women) over two elections. It is an odd call given their party holds just nine of 88 urban seats nationwide.
On paper, Ley could be the ideal leader for a fast-delaminating electorate, were she granted the time and space to chart the new liberal course she signalled.
However, her authority has never been acknowledged by the party's right faction (and its media vassals) and nor has that authority been projected by her.
Since narrowly beating Angus Taylor for the post last year, Ley has avoided conflicts on matters of policy or principle. Retaining Scott Morrison's net zero-by-2050 commitment would have been the logical place. Or ditching nuclear energy.
This timidity was a mistake, but hardly a new one. Invariably, vulnerable leaders model vulnerability. They never get stronger through appeasement, and as much as they delude themselves to the contrary, they never grow on their internal enemies.
Ley's best........