Nats Leadership Now A Three-Horse Race After Keith Lungbuster MP From Yawannagokhunt Throws Hat in The Ring

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David Littleproud will remain the leader of The Nationals, after surviving a leadership spill that comes less than a fortnight after collapsing the Coalition for the second time.

At 2:20pm this afternoon, Nationals MP Michelle Landry confirmed to the media outside the Nationals Party room that Colin Boyce MP's spill motion against Mr Littleproud was “unsuccessful”.

“So, David Littleproud is still the leader of the federal National Party,” she said.

Ms Landry refused to disclose what the vote count was. But these type of internal political instabilities are rarely settled after one ballot

The leadership challenge had been brought on by Liberal National Party MP Colin Boyce to apparently protest Mr Littleproud’s decision to walk the minor party away from the Coalition.

Boyce's reasoning was the most surprising thing about this entire series of events, considering the fact that he's a Central Queensland LNP member that most people would assume was all for ditching these softcock wet Liberals and shifting further to the right.

However, given the pay-cut that the Coalition's former shadow cabinet ministers would have to cop by moving to the backbench as a minor party nobodies, it may actually be a cost-of-living issue.

This is where it gets complicated, because within both the LNP and National Party's powerful Sky News brainrot faction, there are plenty of backbenchers who have grown used to living on merely a couple hundred grand a year - so long as it means they get to blame greenies for bushfires and call scientists gay.

Enter Keith Lungbuster MP from the North-North-West Queensland electorate of Yawannagokhunt.

The 49-year-old former Mitsubishi dealer is now throwing his hat in the ring for Nats leadership, revealing a third split within the right-wing faction of the rural MPs.

Lungbuster represents the LNP and Nationals members who want to remain separated from the Liberal Party but not under the leadership of David Littleproud, who has acknowledged the existence of climate change far too many times for their liking.

Another spill is expected to be called before the end of the week, with at least a couple of Nats expected to join One Nation before then.