Dugald Saunders quits as NSW Nationals leader

NSW Nationals MP Dugald Saunders has stunned colleagues and abruptly resigned as leader of the junior Coalition party on the eve of the last parliamentary sitting week of the year.

In a decision that caught his colleagues off guard, Saunders issued a statement just before noon on Monday confirming he would stand down effective immediately. Two Nationals sources confirmed party deputy Gurmesh Singh was asking colleagues to support him as leader on Monday evening.

“For the past two and a half years, I have had the privilege of leading the NSW Nationals – today I am stepping down from that position,” Saunders wrote in a statement.

“It’s been an honour to lead the parliamentary team during a challenging time in opposition and I’ve always done my best to represent regional NSW.”

Nationals Clarence MP Richie Williamson said: “As party whip I have convened a party room meeting for 8.30am where we will elect the new leader of the NSW Nationals.”

Liberal and Nationals sources believed two MPs would likely run in Tuesday’s leadership ballot: Singh and previous leader Paul Toole. Singh was lobbying colleagues about the leadership on Monday evening but some Nationals MPs said Toole had not yet been in contact.

Neither Toole nor Singh responded to requests for comment.

Saunders stunned colleagues when he sent a sudden message to MPs, which was sent to the media five minutes later. One senior Nationals MP said there was no warning that his resignation was looming.

After deposing Toole as leader in May 2023, Saunders has overseen the party through a period of tumult within the Coalition.

One Nationals MP, speaking anonymously to detail internal party matters, said it became clear late last week that Saunders had lost the support of the party room, saying there seemed to be considerable disquiet as to the leader’s ability in “managing his colleagues, setting a strategic direction and fundraising”.

Another MP complained not a single policy had been created during his 2½ years of leadership.

“If you’re going to win the election, you need to put the hard yards in from the moment you’re elected, not just the last few months,” he said.

However, insiders close to Saunders said the Dubbo MP had been “mulling” resigning for a “little while”, citing health issues among family members.

They conceded Saunders might have lost the party room, but attributed it to his distraction while dealing with personal issues.

The deputy position, if vacated by Singh, could be contested by Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke and Brendan Moylan, considered by MPs a future party leader, two Nationals sources suggested. Upper Hunter MP David Layzell has ruled himself out of contention so he can focus on his electorate.

A Cooke and Singh leadership team would require “a lot of patching up” of their working relationship, an MP said.

After years of leadership tension between Saunders and Toole, one source suggested the Nationals were seeking a compromise candidate, with Singh thought by some to have the numbers.

In a statement, Liberal leader Mark Speakman said: “Dugald Saunders has been a tireless advocate for the Dubbo electorate and regional NSW, both as a leader of the NSW Nationals and as a trusted voice long before politics.

“When he entered politics, those strengths as a broadcaster readily moved across. I’ve valued very much his steady, collegiate and constructive counsel and diligence when we were Ministers together and later as party leaders together.”

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