Sussan Ley may last only 'a day' as Liberal leader, party heavyweight jokes

New Opposition Leader Sussan Ley may only last a day in the job, the Liberal Party's federal vice president has joked.

Fiona Scott made the quip when she was asked on Today this morning about how long Ley - the Liberals' first female leader - would last.

"I don't know. I mean, a day's a long time in politics," Scott, who was an MP from 2013 until 2016, said.

READ MORE: 'We have to have a fresh approach': Sussan Ley becomes first woman to lead Liberal Party

Host Karl Stefanovic said: "That's not exactly a ringing endorsement."

Scott replied: "Yeah, well, you know, it could be a day. It won't be a day. I mean, cheeky, but I mean, look, you don't know what the political tides will bring."

When Scott was quizzed about whether she had confidence in Ley's leadership, she said Ley was fantastic.

Ley, the moderate candidate who was deputy under Peter Dutton for the last three years, narrowly saw off shadow treasurer Angus Taylor 29 votes to 25 in yesterday's party room meeting.

She became not just the first woman to lead the Liberals in the party's 81-year history, but also the first to be federal opposition leader – from either party – in Australian politics.

READ MORE: 'Incredible life story': How Sussan Ley will lead the Liberals

Ted O'Brien, one of the most strident supporters of the Coalition's nuclear plan in his former role as shadow energy spokesperson, was elected her deputy.

Ley inherits a Liberal Party reeling from a catastrophic election loss that will likely see the Coalition reduced to just 44 seats, and grappling with what direction to take on economic policy, how to re-engage women voters, and whether to retain its nuclear power advocacy.

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