In the wake of the "dodgygate" scandal - in which MHS claimed that senior Labor party figures were linked to Scientology, basing his evidence on forgeries, apologizing, then giving the victim of his slander legal advice that contradicted his original public story - moves where afoot to remove MHS who the tories seemed to feel had been hogging the poison chalice.
MHS himself called a challenge, to stare down any contenders. When Tory toff Vicky Chapman challenged for the top job, Hamilton-Smith won by 1 vote (10-11) with 1 MP speaking for all sensible South Australian's and unable to vote for either candidate. At the time he said:
"I'm delighted to have won the vote today, but it is not good enough for me .... I feel that the outcome is not clear enough and I've signalled to my colleagues I intend to recommit this decision within the week for a clearer outcome."
Not to be deterred MHS called another spill again, this time for Wednesday, but rather than using an inevitable victory to pressure MP's into a show of unity, MHS did the amazing, and managed to get rolled within three days of winning the vote. He has now announced he will not contest the next ballot only two hours after Isobel Redmond publically said what everyone was thinking and implored him not to run. The contest is shaping up as a contest between Isobel Redmond, Vicky Chapman and possibly Mitch Williams; if this is so, approximately 20% of elected tories will have been candidates for leadership ballots within the past week.
Read the full debacle here.
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