Mr Hadley, who famously fell out with new prime minister Scott Morrison last year, also weighed in on the composition of Mr Morrison's cabinet. "He needs strong people around him, and he needs to sideline the poor performers ... Those three steps could just see him make it a contest of it with [Bill] Shorten." Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday claimed "powerful voices in the media" had aided a "determined insurgency" in the Liberal Party to see him off. His language echoed an attack earlier in the week on some media outlets by Nine journalist Chris Uhlmann. Mr Uhlmann claimed outlets including 2GB, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and Sky News were "waging a war" against Mr Turnbull on behalf of Mr Dutton. A claim which Daily Telegraph political editor Sharri Markson emphatically denied. Sydney station 2GB is owned by Fairfax Media, owner of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Andrew Bolt weighed in Mr Morrison's unexpected victory on Sky News on Friday afternoon, suggesting that Mr Morrison would need to mend relations with conservatives after having "burned a bridge" by supporting Mr Turnbull in the 2015 spill that toppled former prime minister Tony Abbott.

"He's been on the Turnbull government bandwagon but, in the end, you've got to take your cues from the guy on top," the Herald Sun columnist said. "What he'll do as prime minister himself, that is now the issue - and I think we're now waiting for the policies. It's not just about changing the salesman; what he's selling also has to change." Energy policy would be key, Bolt added, saying the leadership coup had been "driven by the fact that 13 MPs threatened to cross the floor" and vote against the National Energy Guarantee. "So will Scott Morrison and [new deputy Liberal leader] Josh Frydenberg change the policy? If it's just the salesman, all this pain was for nothing," he said. Conservatives Jim Molan, Eric Abetz and Craig Kelly did the rounds of their preferred television and radio networks on Friday, pushing the line that Mr Morrison and Mr Frydenberg would be "listening" to them and the party base whose interests they represented.

Hadley famously dumped Mr Morrison from his regular Monday spot on his show last year after he granted an interview to ABC Radio Melbourne's Jon Faine. "The love affair, or the bromance that has been written about, is over," Hadley declared last April. "He's lied to me, or his staff have lied ... The regular chat with the Treasurer is now abandoned." "It's not just about changing the salesman; what [Scott Morrison's] selling also has to change": Andrew Bolt. Credit:Justin McManus Listeners who called into 2GB on Friday highlighted power prices and Australia's growing population as key concerns.

It comes after Nine's chief political correspondent Chris Uhlmann took aim at conservatives from Sky News, The Daily Telegraph and 2GB in on-air spray on Thursday morning's Today show, accusing them of "waging a war" against Mr Turnbull. In his final press conference as Prime Minister on Friday, Mr Turnbull concurred. "I think you all know what's happened. There was a determined insurgency from a number of people both in the party room and backed by voices, powerful voices, in the media [to] bring down my Prime Ministership," he said. "It was described as madness by many, and I think it's difficult to describe it in ... any other way." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

Hadley's 2GB stablemate Chris Smith said of the Prime Minister shortly after the spill vote: "If he doesn't reset the agenda ... He is a dead duck, and so's the party." Smith said that if Mr Morrison moved to carry on "business as usual", carrying on Mr Turnbull's legacy, the Liberal Party would fail to "bring back its base". "There has to be change, the party has to shift further to the right - maybe not as far as Peter Dutton was prepared to take it, but it has to move further," he said. 2GB breakfast radio host Alan Jones' Twitter account fell silent on Friday, after the broadcaster tweeted a mea culpa over his use of the n-word on air the previous day. Jones, who had used the expression "n****r in the woodpile" to describe Mathias Cormann whom he accused of "playing hard to get" as Mr Dutton canvassed support for his leadership tilt, apologised for the "offensive" slur.