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Kellie Sloane has lost her second frontbencher in two weeks as one-time leadership hopeful Alister Henskens announced he will retire from politics at the next state election.
The announcement comes a week after Manly MP and opposition energy spokesman James Griffin also declared he would vacate his seat at the March 2027 poll.
Henskens’ political retirement is another blow for Sloane, who is already facing a One Nation surge and an uphill battle to keep Manly Liberal in the face of a campaign from local independent Elouise Massa.
The shadow special minister of state and member for Wahroonga, Henskens also had leadership ambitions when previous opposition leader Mark Speakman was forced to step down last year. Henskens ultimately bowed out of the leadership race when it was clear that Sloane had the support of moderate powerbrokers.
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The former government minister is also trained as a barrister, a career he said he would like to return to after he leaves politics. The Australian Financial Review recently revealed that Henskens has already dipped his toes back in the legal waters while remaining an MP, acting for steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta in the liquidation of the Tahmoor coal mine, a case in which the NSW government has a financial interest.
Henskens said that stepping down from politics was not an easy decision, and that serving the community had been the greatest honour of his life. He did not give a reason for his choice.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve. The protection and maintenance of our unique local area required eternal vigilance,” he said.
Henskens said he looked forward to supporting the endorsed Liberal candidate who was “committed to that task”.
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“It is my desire that the most outstanding person is democratically selected by the Liberal Party free of factional influences, which is what the people of Wahroonga deserve,” he said.
The resignations of Henskens and Griffin highlight the growing pessimism inside the Liberal Party as polling shows it has slipped behind One Nation. The Resolve Political Monitor survey in July had the Coalition primary vote on 23 per cent, running third behind Labor on 29 per cent and One Nation on 25 per cent.
Sloane had a preferred premier figure of 16 per cent, trailing Chris Minns on 36 per cent.
As the Liberals attempt to prosecute the Minns government on law and order issues amid a spate of underworld murders in Sydney, Sloane’s shadow attorney-general Damien Tudehope remains sidelined amid revelations in the Independent Commission Against Corruption that he had leaked a confidential parliamentary report.
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Tudehope voluntarily stood aside before the public hearings began.
The ICAC is an unwanted distraction for Sloane, with the commission hearing evidence of factional warfare and allegations that Liberal figures were taking money from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif in exchange for political favours.
Sloane recruited former NSW Police deputy commissioner Mick Willing as her candidate for Camden, who she said would make an “extraordinary future police minister” who would be “tough on crime in this city”.
While Willing has jumped on the recent crime crisis to attack the Labor government, he remains a candidate. Lane Cove MP Anthony Roberts is the Coalition’s current police spokesman.
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Jessica McSweeney is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering state politics and urban affairs.Connect via email.AdvertisementAdvertisement