A powerful swing against the Morrison government threatens to leave the Liberal Party with just five women in the House of Representatives, as the party struggles to show it is acting on equality for women in federal Parliament.

The Liberal Party could be left with just one woman from NSW and one from Victoria in the lower house after the next election, in a scenario being canvassed in the wake of the latest polls.

The poor polling, combined with looming departures, could reduce the number of female Liberals in the House of Representatives to the lowest level since the early 1990s.

Female Liberal MPs wear red in a show of solidarity in the House of Representatives on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The outlook is another sign of the government’s battle to recruit and encourage more women at a time when Liberal MPs including Julia Banks in Victoria and Ann Sudmalis in NSW are preparing to leave Parliament.