Sussan Ley did an admirable job exuding a sense of calm as she fronted journalists outside Canberra’s Hyatt Hotel on Friday. It was the end of a shocking fortnight for the Liberal Party leader, but she kept a straight face as she insisted she and her colleagues were on the same page when it comes to the topic that has riven the party for two decades: climate change.

“What I am saying is that every one of my team is absolutely united behind the focus that we have right now, which is to hold this Labor government to account for an energy policy that is destructive of households, businesses and indeed harming the economy,” she said.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley speaks to reporters outside the Hyatt Hotel, Canberra. Credit: David Beach

It was a sentence that instantly raised eyebrows among the reporters in attendance. After all, the words “absolutely united” sound laughable when thinking about the federal Liberal Party today.

Just hours earlier, one of Ley’s backbenchers, Victorian senator Sarah Henderson, had issued a withering assessment of the state of the party.

“I’ve been a member of parliament since 2013,” Henderson told the press gallery on Friday morning. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen in our party, and I’ve seen a few dramas.”

Moments earlier, Henderson told Sky News: “I do think Sussan is losing support, but I do believe in miracles. We can turn things around, but things are not good. I don’t support things the way they are.”

Liberal senator Sarah Henderson.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Henderson’s comments could easily have been dismissed as sour grapes, given she was........

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