A poisoned chalice? Liberal ministers' fall in race to replace Barnett

Just spoke to Lib MP Sean L'Estrange who says he's not interested in being leader, says he backs Liza Harvey as she's the 1/3

— Jessica Strutt (@JessicaStrutt) March 14, 2017

The speculation comes as another high-profile minister – Joe Francis - conceded his seat of Jandakot on Tuesday afternoon, which he once held with an 18.3 per cent margin.

He's the fifth minister looking for a new job after the Liberals were brutally crushed in the polls and the former Corrective Services minister was hotly tipped to take over from Colin Barnett who has retreated to the back bench.

Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Notre Dr Martin Drum said although the Liberal leadership is not being "hotly contested," it will be a tough battle because the party room is now so small after the heavy election defeat.

"The loss of Joe Francis was a blow. He was someone who could have made a very good opposition leader, where you need tenacity and fight and to take it to the government of the day," he said.

"They need someone who can take this job on for at least three to four years, and what you find is that usually opposition leaders don't become Prime Minister or premier - who ever takes this job will have to build up the Liberal brand in the west again and hold the government to account, it will be a tough job.

"Yes, Mike Nahan is 66 and age could be a factor, but by the end of the campaign Barnett looked tired - Mr Nahan, he's not on a jet ski but I don't think you could have said that about him."

Mr Barnett campaigned promising if the Liberals won a third term in government he'd step down as leader eventually, hoping to give more time to his ministers to develop leadership skills.

Speaking to WAtoday before the election, Mr Barnett lamented that the downfall of former Treasurer Troy Buswell and the loss of MP Christian Porter to federal politics left the cupboard bare.

"If Troy didn't get in so much trouble and Christian was still here, I would have handed it over and I think that left a bit of a gap.

"But what I see as my responsibility is to develop people that can take over the leadership of the party. I'm not anointing anyone. I can see two or three people who have that capacity."

Meanwhile, there's also speculation that outgoing minister Joe Francis will nominate for the seat of Cottesloe when Mr Barnett steps down, triggering a by-election with others expected to follow.

Never mind manoeuvres though - the Liberals have been left bloodied beyond recognition and the stench of regret after jumping into bed with One Nation will linger for a long time to come.

No matter who takes over the reins of the Liberals, the party is in complete disarray and will take years to rebuild.

Ian Cook from Curtin University said the choice of Mr Nahan and Ms Harvey would indicate that safe bets, not regeneration, are the Liberal's top priority.

"They are not going to win the next election, the swing was so severe, but they have a chance to claw back six or so seats in their years in opposition," he said.

"Picking someone young or new would show that they party is keen to learn from mistakes, but with Nahan or Harvey you won't get that sort of level of navel gazing. Nahan is from that Barnett faction, so they've got the numbers or what's left of them at least.

"The economy will be a big issue going forward, so he's the former treasurer so that's a safe choice."

When Labor unexpectedly lost the 2008 election at least it had the steady hands of former Treasury Eric Ripper to steer the ship out of troubled waters.

There is no natural leader within the Liberals to stand at the helm of the ship that is heading to the bottom of the ocean.