Kochie to Abbott: How have you become so unpopular?

FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop has told Prime Minister Tony Abbott she will not challenge for the leadership.

Ms Bishop, the deputy leader of the Liberal party, has told the PM she is not campaigning for the top job as speculation mounted over the leadership crisis.

“I’m not ringing the backbench for support, I’m not counting numbers,” Ms Bishop told Sky News. “I will not challenge the leader.”

The development comes after earlier claims by Cabinet ministers that the relationship between Mr Abbott and Ms Bishop is now “untenable”.

MPs today continued to leak against the Prime Minister despite a staunch defence of his leadership to the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday.

“Cabinet ministers have been ringing me and telling me things are just untenable,” one MP said.

“Julie Bishop and Tony Abbott now have a Gillard-Rudd like relationship. It can’t go on like this,” another said.

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Meanwhile, disgruntled Queensland MP Mal Brough has not ruled out potentially bringing forward a motion of no confidence in Tony Abbott in the party room if he is still Prime Minister when Parliament resumes next week.

The former Howard government minister is due to deliver a speech on Medicare tonight on the Sunshine Coast and said he will have more to say on the leadership situation following his address.

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“I’ll have more to say about that tonight,” he told News Corp Australia.

One of the possible options being discussed by MPs unhappy with Mr Abbott’s leadership is that Mr Brough will act as scapegoat to bring the leadership issue to a head.

A specific option is that he will put forward a motion of no confidence in his leader when the party room meets next Tuesday.

Asked directly today if he would resort to a motion of no confidence, Mr Brough did not deny it might come to that.

Earlier, Tony Abbott declared today as “back to work Tuesday” as he continued to brush off leadership speculation.

The Prime Minister said he had “a lot of confidence” in his colleagues and that changing leaders was not the answer for the party.

“I accept that we have had a difficult couple of months,” Mr Abbott said.

“I think that the lesson that we need to learn is that instability leads to instability.

“This is back to work Tuesday — we are now focused on doing the right thing.”

Earlier, he refused to weigh into reports that Mr Abbott asked his deputy to rule out a challenge when they dined at Kirribili House on Sunday night.

“I’m not going to play into those Canberra insider games,” Mr Abbott told Channel Seven’s Sunrise program.

It also comes as News Corp can reveal the Prime Minister’s office last week begun an all out “charm offensive” to try and win over disgruntled MPs.

The blitz on MPs included a personal invitation on Thursday to all parliamentary spouses to attend an art gallery showing hosted by Margie Abbott during the upcoming sitting week.

It also included a personal email from Liberal Party federal director Brian Loughnane to book a table at a fundraising dinner during the May budget sitting.

“It is just ridiculous sending that kind of stuff out now, it’s only because they want to try and normalise things. It’s a charm offensive,” one MP said.

“It’s very unusual to ask us to book in for a fundraiser so far in advance.”

On the invitation to spouses, one MP said it smacked of “desperation”.

“We have very high regard for Margie Abbott but we don’t want this kind of crap. We don’t want our spouses to be involved in these kinds of games.”

“It’s about Abbott, not about our spouses. And if it was genuine this kind of invite would have happened a while ago.

“Does the PMO think we are all stupid?”

The Prime Minister spent much of last week calling around his backbench trying to quell the anger of those frustrated by his leadership.

But MPs are still angry that Mr Abbott changed his personal mobile number late last year, leaving backbenchers unable to contact him directly with their concerns.

“We wanted to talk to him directly and none of us had his number. It’s just not a genuine consultative style.”