Scott Morrison could quit politics by end of the year as speculation grows

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to step down from politics this year, putting the opposition ahead of another by-election for his Cook seat.

Six Liberal party members have claimed Mr Morrison is likely to leave parliament sometime between the May budget and the end of this year.

‘He [Morrison] has told people in the [Sutherland] Shire, he’s going after the budget,” an MP, who declined to be named, told The The Sydney Morning Herald.

Another MP said Mr Morrison would be there for the budget but would leave before the end of the year.

Mr Morrison’s resignation would trigger a by-election for Cook’s safe Liberal seat, which he held in last year’s federal election when he lost the prime ministerial race to Anthony Albanese.

He retained the seat with 62.4 percent of the two-party preference vote, with an 8.2 percent swing against him.

It would be the second safe Liberal seat Peter Dutton would have to fight for after the Liberals shockingly lost Aston’s Victorian seat to Labor last week.

The previously safe seat in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburb was vacated by former minister Mr Alan Tudge when he retired in February.

It ended with the defeat of Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell by Labor’s Mary Doyle.

It was the first time in more than a century that a federal government had claimed a by-election victory in a seat previously held by the opposition.

An MP has predicted a Cook election would come soon, revealing just how much the country’s political arena had changed.

“If Tudge had waited another six months in the backseat, things would have been different,” they told the publication.

“After this budget, the political landscape will look different, the Cook by-election will show to what extent.”

Mr Morrison is not ruling out leaving politics sometime this year but says he is currently focused on his seat and is supporting Mr Dutton for now.

“I am focused on doing my job in my local electorate, helping the parliamentary party and supporting the leader,” he said told The Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Scott Morrison’s office for comment.

Mr Morrison’s resignation would trigger another by-election for Cook, which would be the second safe Liberal seat Peter Dutton (pictured) would have to fight for after the Liberals shockingly lost the Victorian seat to Aston last week.

Mr Morrison says he is focusing on his position as MP for Cook for now and supporting the Liberal Party (pictured with his family)