He has asked fellow conservatives to register their interest at a website called "conservatives.org.au". Liberal senator Cory Bernardi. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Senator Bernardi did not return calls but said in a text message he was "on leave" and had nothing to add from his comments earlier in the week. He later said in a radio interview that it was "not my intention" to set up his own party, but he was not asked about becoming the leader of a broad conservative party under another name. "What I want to do is make the conservative movement as strong as it possibly can be in this country," he told Sydney 2GB's Ben Fordham.

There has long been "chatter" in conservative circles that Senator Bernardi would break away from the Liberals, but many believe he flirts with the idea strategically to gain leverage in the party room. But sources have confirmed to Fairfax Media that Senator Bernardi is having arms-length discussions with famous "preference whisperer" Glenn Druery about how such a "fourth force" might work. Conservatives say such a party would need its "own Nigel Farage" – the recently resigned, charismatic leader of the United Kingdom Independence party. Former Liberal MP Ross Cameron has also been approached to be the figurehead of a broad-based conservative movement, which would be a right-wing equivalent to the Greens, catering to voters who believe the post-Tony Abbott Liberal party has become too centrist. Mr Druery denied having spoken to Senator Bernardi but did not deny talking to his associates.

Mr Druery said he believed a conservative party would "likely pick up one Senate spot in every state" at a federal election. "They would likely win some lower house seats too but they would have to be very, very clever about their election strategy." He said such a break-away party could form a place within the Coalition, like the National Party and the Liberal National Party in Queensland. The discussions represent a huge political problem for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who faces an insurrection from his party's right wing while uncertainty continues over whether he will be able to form government in his own right. In NSW, the right-wing micro-parties collectively picked up about 14 per cent of the upper house vote in the election. In Queensland, the right-wing micro-party vote was hovering around 18 per cent on Wednesday.

In Senator Bernardi's home state of South Australia, the right-wing micro-party vote was around nine per cent. There are many within the conservative movement believe there should be one single right-wing party to cater to this constituency, the same voters who turned their backs on the Liberal party under Prime Minister Turnbull. "You're seeing a whole bunch of conservative votes splinter off into other parties," Senator Bernardi said on Wednesday. "I want to make sure that people who have a conservative disposition are adequately represented in the public square." The talks come amid bitter recriminations about the campaign strategy of the Turnbull team, particularly from his home state.

Former Liberal MP and party member Mr Cameron would not comment on reports he has been approached as a possible "conservative party" leader. But he said it was "completely natural that conservatives who feel abandoned have got to figure out where they live". "The refusal of the Liberal party of NSW to reform its pre-selection process has left many feeling a small cabal of lobbyists who have privatised the Liberal party are running it for their commercial benefit, with no interest whatsoever in the merit principle," he said. Mr Cameron said there was "no product differentiation" between Liberal and Labor on key issues including climate change, gay marriage, industrial relations and budget repair. "We also all equally disparage and insult [Pauline] Hanson. So the Liberal Party got smashed because we had no money. The [policy] menu did not attract any kind of voluntary investment."

Many conservatives felt the Liberal party had become "too hostage to the Sydney Morning Herald/Glebe/ABC agenda," he said. Email: jmaley@fairfaxmedia.com.au Twitter: @JacquelineMaley Follow Jacqueline Maley on Facebook