Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is being pushed towards dumping the Liberal Party’s net zero pledge as she fights to keep the Coalition together and stave off an emerging threat from Andrew Hastie, but she faces a rearguard action from pro-climate action MPs who backed her ascent to the top job.

Top conservative members of Ley’s leadership team – led by Angus Taylor, Michaelia Cash and James Paterson – shifted their stance on the 2050 pledge after a dramatic few days in which the Nationals cast the target aside and Ley was hit with record-low polling.

The Nationals’ move convinced senior Liberals, including some of Ley’s backers, to dump the net zero target, as this masthead first reported on Monday.

“There is a growing sense that the net zero line just won’t work,” one party source said

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