Zak Kirkup must unite a fractured WA Liberal Party and that may not even be his biggest task – ABC News

In some ways, the new WA Liberal leadership team will serve as a counter to some of the biggest criticisms levelled against the party.

Ever since the party was annihilated at the 2017 election, the Liberals have been accused of lacking energy, young talent and fresh ideas a party full of relics from the Barnett years, according to critics.

But the Opposition can now counter that by pointing to a 33-year-old leader in Zak Kirkup a rookie by political standards, in his first term of Parliament, who even critics would acknowledge isn't lacking in drive and determination.

Also repeatedly criticised for having a 'women problem', with female representation in the partyroom sorely lacking, the Liberals can also point to new deputy leader Libby Mettam another relative newcomer to politics, having won her seat in 2014.

But despite those advantages, the new leadership has some giant hurdles to overcome with an election just around the corner, after Mr Kirkup was elected unopposed following Dean Nalder's withdrawal from the contest.

Labor is already sharpening its knives, describing Mr Kirkup as being on his "L-plates".

That is a line of attack that could be highly damaging, as WA continues to stare down a once-in-a-generation global pandemic.

"You have a failed minister and an untried new member of parliament," Deputy Premier Roger Cook said of the two contenders before Mr Nalder pulled out.

"A pandemic requires a government that is experienced."

The bar, though, will not be set too high for Mr Kirkup, given how grave the fears of Liberal MPs have been for some time.

Currently, the party holds just 13 of the 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly and that number could further plummet, according to some polls, with a host of marginal seats in danger.

With that in mind, simply holding ground might be seen by Liberals as something of a win and could ensure the party keeps Mr Kirkup on as opposition leader after March 13.

Still, Mr Kirkup insists he is in it to win it.

"Anyone who is standing to be leader should make sure that we are here to fight in every one of the 59 seats in the Lower House," he said.

But the fact that one of the most vulnerable Liberal seats is Mr Kirkup's own is a significant complicating factor.

He holds the seat of Dawesville by just over 300 votes and it is an electorate Labor will inevitably target, meaning Mr Kirkup will have to spend significant time defending his own territory.

That would be time he would be unable to spend campaigning in other seats, but Mr Kirkup has maintained he can find that balance.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think the people of Mandurah had my back," he said ahead of the partyroom meeting.

Both Mr Kirkup and Mr Nalder spoke of the need to unite the party, which during Ms Harvey's leadership was plagued by unhappy MPs who felt they had been sidelined.

Just how strong those divisions are was made abundantly clear in the minutes before the vote, when two retiring MPs former leader Mike Nahan and South Perth MP John McGrath called out what they saw as the excessive influence of powerbroker Peter Collier.

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Dr Nahan publicly called for both Mr Collier and Nedlands MP Bill Marmion to resign, while Mr McGrath said the events of Tuesday showed powerbrokers ran the party.

Healing those wounds and finding a way to unite ahead of the election campaign will be a crucial early task for Mr Kirkup.

So, too, will be convincing the public that Mr Kirkup has the experience to lead and ensuring colleagues believe he has the political nous to succeed.

Some MPs were left questioning the latter point after the Dawesville MP labelled Premier Mark McGowan "a princess" earlier this year.

But perhaps the biggest task will be making sure voters know who he is.

For more than a year now, Mr Kirkup has counted down the days until the election on his Twitter account and, this morning, that ticked down to 109 days.

It means he has just over three months to gain some name recognition in public and show himself to be a viable alternative to an historically popular premier.

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Zak Kirkup must unite a fractured WA Liberal Party and that may not even be his biggest task - ABC News