Leanne Castley says she called Elizabeth Lee about 4pm on Wednesday afternoon. She had changed her mind.
One extra vote was all a challenger to Ms Lee needed to secure in order to topple the incumbent leader.
Earlier that morning, the five Liberals who had been expected to back Ms Lee to retain the leadership had sat in a row while the result of the 2024 ACT election was declared.
Afterwards, Ms Castley spoke to journalists.
"I've told Elizabeth that I'll support her if she's leader and that's all I have to say about that," Ms Castley said.
"I believe there is a lot we can change and work on together doing that and that's what I'm looking forward to."
There was enough wiggle room in that wording, with emphasis on "if she's leader", to raise alarm bells for Ms Lee and her backers.
Ms Lee had delayed making any announcement about her political future after the Canberra Liberals' seventh straight election loss. She had wanted to be sure that if she ran, she enjoyed the support of the majority of her colleagues.
On election night, Saturday, October 19, Ms Lee said no one should ask her what she would do, because she did not know herself.
Jeremy Hanson, who had led the party to the 2016 election and served as Ms Lee's deputy until he was dumped by the party room in late 2023, wasted little time to indicate he would stand for the leadership after the Liberals' narrow path to power evaporated.
Mr Hanson, on Monday, October 21, said the opposition leader needed to look credible, as well as have experience, maturity and the aptitude to be chief minister.
"I'm not saying that [Ms Lee does not have those qualities]. I'm saying that, moving forward, I believe that I have those qualities and given my argument about where the leader needs to sit, I'm in the best position to lead the party to victory in 2028," he told The Canberra Times.
Ms Lee on Tuesday said: "I'm putting my hand up because I do believe that I'm still the best person to lead the Canberra Liberals, to give us the best chance going into 2028."
Mr Hanson had been expected to enjoy the support of three colleagues, giving him four votes in the nine-member party room.
James Milligan, Ed Cocks and newly elected Deborah Morris were expected to support Mr Hanson.
Ms Lee, on those numbers, looked to have shored up her leadership. She was expected to have Ms Castley, Mark Parton, Peter Cain and newly elected Chiaka Barry in her corner.
That changed on Wednesday afternoon.
Ms Castley said she called Mr Hanson in an effort to cut a deal, seek his support for her to run as leader, and shift the balance and remove Ms Lee from the position she had held since 2020.
"So you came up with the idea yourself yesterday afternoon to make a deal for the leadership?" a journalist asked Ms Castley on Thursday.
"Yes," she said.
And had the "cleverly worded statement" the morning before meant she already knew she would make a move?
"No," Ms Castley said. "It took me until yesterday afternoon to make the decision to put my hand up as leader."
Part of the reason Ms Castley gave Ms Lee for changing her mind was Ms Lee's decision to seek talks with the ACT Greens.
Ms Lee said on Thursday that if this had been such an issue, she would have expected it to be raised privately. Former Liberal leaders Alistair Coe and Zed Seselja had also engaged in similar talks.
But as Wednesday night wore on, Ms Lee's camp knew the game was up. Her backers are understood to have called James Milligan, who had been set to support Mr Hanson, to say he would have their support for the deputy leadership. This would have denied Mr Hanson a leadership position.
But Mr Milligan did not nominate for the position in the party room meeting. Mr Parton, who had confirmed his support for Ms Lee early on Thursday morning, nominated for the deputy leadership, and was defeated five votes to four.
But without Mr Milligan in the race, Mr Hanson's return to the leadership team was assured. It may not have been the position he publicly sought, but it was an improved fortune from his backbench relegation under Ms Lee.
"Let's be very clear here today: Leanne is the boss. She's the one that approached me and said, 'Will you be my deputy?' I serve Leanne and I serve the party room. If the perception's otherwise, that is a wrong perception," Mr Hanson said.
Ms Castley said unity was now her goal. "Unity is what we need to be working towards. The enemy, if you like, isn't within us. We are a unified team and the goal is to win government in 2028," she said.
