Nick Tyrrell has been elected president of the Canberra Liberals, filling an empty chair that was left vacant after the previous president was deposed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Tyrrell, the founder of local electric picnic boat hire company GoBoat, was voted in as president at a party meeting in Deakin on Wednesday night and will lead the party's management committee through the 2024 election campaign.
Mr Tyrrell was elected 177 votes to 116, defeating Arthur Potter.
Mr Potter is aligned with the party's conservative flank and served as president between 2013 and 2017.
Mr Potter was previously defeated by a single vote in a vice-presidency ballot in 2022 despite having the support of Zed Seselja, the former ACT Liberal senator and party powerbroker.
One party insider said Mr Tyrrell's election reflected a fresh start for the party with a "great and capable president".
Moderates within the party had urged members to back Mr Tyrrell, who was expected to run for party president at the annual general meeting, held in December, where John Cziesla was dumped from the position.
The Menzies Group, which includes leading moderate figures within the party, encouraged its supporters to vote for Mr Tyrrell.
"The stakes here are very high; the AGM was characterised in the local media in November as a cleanout of the conservatives in the local party and a win for Elizabeth Lee - something which creates a positive climate for our prospects for the October Legislative Assembly election," the group told supporters in an email seen by The Canberra Times.
"Conversely, if Nick Tyrrell fails it will be seen (justifiably) as the conservatives taking back control of the party - a very unhelpful message."
Mr Tyrrell, who previously worked for former NSW Liberal politicians Barry O'Farrell, Pru Goward and Gladys Berejiklian, moved to Canberra in 2015.
Mr Cziesla, a long-time ally of Mr Seselja, was defeated by an empty chair, 117 votes to 123, during the fiery annual general meeting last year. He had been president since 2017.
Mr Cziesla is understood not to have had the support of Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee but was backed by Jeremy Hanson.
Mr Hanson, a member for Murrumbidgee, has since lost the deputy leadership of the Canberra Liberals in a snap party room ballot, and was moved to the backbench in a reshuffle in December.
Mr Cziesla unsuccessfully appealed the result of the ballot. Megan Fox, who was elected vice president with backing from the moderates, was acting president since Mr Cziesla's ousting.
The party has long been dominated by its conservative flank, however insiders last year said the departure of Mr Seselja, who lost a NSW Senate preselection battle, allowed the party to begin moving towards the centre.
"It was the turning of the tide," one party member present at the annual general meeting said. "This is a huge denunciation of the angry Zed mob."
Another member present said it was "hugely significant" and an indication the party had shifted.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
