Mermaid Beach LNP MP Ray Stevens said he was supremely confident Mr Newman would win with a 10 per cent swing.
“I’m confident the people of Ashgrove will recognise Kate is Anna’s mate,” he said.
“We’ll be devastated if he doesn’t win. We don’t have a back-up plan.”
Gaven LNP MP Alex Douglas said the leadership question was irrelevant given an Ashgrove win was critical to the party forming the new Government. Burleigh LNP candidate Michael Hart said the Ashgrove tussle was an attempt by Labor to `distract us from the issues’.
He said it was impossible to choose a back-up leader because he did not know who would win their seats.
Currumbin LNP MP Jann Stuckey said she was too busy to worry about a back-up leadership plan, Southport candidate Rob Molhoek said he was not focused on the issue and Coomera MP Michael Crandon said he simply would not comment.
Even ousted LNP leader John-Paul Langbroek declined to reveal any leadership aspirations to take over from the man who spectacularly led to his downfall.
“I know it will go according to plan,” he said.
“I am content doing the role I’m doing and I would love to do the same in government.”
Former LNP leader Lawrence Springborg declined to put his hand up as a suitable replacement, as did leadership frontrunner Tim Nicholls and Jeff Seeney.
“One thing I’ve learnt in my years of parliament is, don’t get involved in wild speculation and hypotheticals because when you do that and look back in hindsight, what you comment and speculate on rarely comes true,” Mr Springborg said.
Mr Newman’s publicist Kylie Jacobson said it was `all or nothing’.
“There is no back-up plan, there’s only one plan,” she said.
“We have always said it is going to be a really tough fight.
“What we are seeing all over the state is Labor MPs sandbagging themselves where they take off all the Labor branding and distance themselves from the party.
“Kate Jones has done that.”
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