Tony Abbott has always had a loyal voter base in his electorate of Warringah, but his support is beginning to crumble following the Liberal Party leadership spill.
But not everyone on Sydney’s northern beaches is happy following the former prime minister’s helping hand in ousting Malcolm Turnbull, with one of his voters saying he made them ’embarrassed to be Australian’.
Voters from Warringah took to Mr Abbott’s Facebook post congratulating Scott Morrison on his victory to express their disappointment in their MP.
Tony Abbott has always had a loyal voter base in his electorate of Warringah however after the Liberal Party leadership spill his strong foundation may have been compromised
‘I’ve been a liberal voter for over 35 years and you DISGUST me. You just lost my vote and many others. FED UP…,’ one user wrote.
‘I live in your seat and I’m a Liberal supporter but if you continue to be the candidate for this seat I will be deciding on which independent to vote for. You have embarrassed this country politically,’ another added.
However for all the backlash and criticism being levelled at Mr Abbott a number of other people shared their support to his official Facebook page.
‘This man CARES (sic) for his party and he would only do what is right, but some can’t get this. Can’t get loyalty,’ one supporter wrote.
‘Good on you Tony was hoping Peter Dutton would win though. Would like to see you as Prime Minister again. You work for the Australians,’ another added.
‘Wonderful to have Tony stay for the good of Australia, and her peoples’, a third supporter wrote.
After former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) was ousted by the Liberal Party many of Abbot’s supporters have spoken out against him and the party
A number of residents from his electorate spoke to news.com.au about their disillusionment with their MP.
‘His name is mud at the moment … I voted for him but never again,” one Manly resident said.
‘I felt Malcolm was doing the best he could and the impact on (former foreign minister) Julie Bishop too, was unbelievable. I’m almost embarrassed to be Australian at the moment.’
She went further and said Abbott was ‘pure ego’ and ‘totally out of touch’.
Another Manly resident echoed those sentiments.
‘He is just tired in the teeth and hanging around, I don’t know what for, he just seems to be stirring the pot rather than genuinely being of service as a local member’, he said.
Other voters from Warringah took to Mr Abbott’s Facebook post congratulating Scott Morrison (pictured) on his victory to express their disappointment
Both former Prime Ministers, Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull (pictured together) have a colourful history and are seen as the architects of each”s dismissal from the top job
Liberal MP Jason Falinski said while Mr Abbott has always had his detractors he has also always had his supporters.
‘Among working people and retirees, mums, dads and families, the message I get is they like Tony and they like his involvement in the community, what he’s done in the community and they don’t see any better option in front of them,’ he told news.com.au.
Mr Abbott retained the seat of Warringah in the 2016 election by a large margin, 61.6 per cent against the Greens 38.4 per cent.
In the 2013 election Mr Abbott also won by a similar margin, 65.3 per cent against Labor’s 34.7 per cent.
The results show strong and long term support for Mr Abbott in his own electorate.
Mr Abbott has been in damage control since the Liberal leadership spill and has already released statements about how the country and its government can move forward.
‘We need to give the public something to hope for; we need to give our own people something to fight for’, the statement read.
He also set out a six point plan to achieving this goal including, fixing the Parliament, living within our means, taking the pressure off power prices, to make housing more affordable, to make Australia safe and to celebrate the nation instead of putting it down.
It remains to be seen if these focus points will resonate with the voting public.