London: A defiant Julie Bishop has hit back at suggestions she was disloyal to former prime minister Tony Abbott, saying she was elected deputy leader by the Liberals' party room and her loyalty is to her colleagues and not the leader.

Mr Abbott on Wednesday night laughed when his conservative ally commentator Andrew Bolt put to him in an interview that cabinet minister Peter Dutton describes himself as "conservative, plain-speaking and loyal", adding, "and Julie Bishop is none of those three".

Notably Mr Abbott did not defend Ms Bishop. Privately he is scathing of her character and believes she behaved disloyally during the 2015 leadership coup when it was revealed her chief of staff attended a meeting of the plotters on the night before he was replaced.

When Fairfax Media put to her Mr Abbott's failure to defend her against Bolt's criticism and his obvious agreement with Bolt, Ms Bishop hit back.