A conservative Canberra Liberals party president has lost his appeal against a vote that dumped him from the role and elected an empty chair.
John Cziesla's attempt to overturn the result of membership ballot and continue as party president was unanimously rejected by a party committee on Thursday.
Mr Cziesla, a long-time ally of former senator Zed Seselja, lost a ballot for the party's president position at an annual general meeting last month.
More than 120 party members voted for an empty chair over Mr Cziesla, who received 117 votes, and had held the position since 2017.
Mr Cziesla remained as interim president while an appeals subcommittee considered his application to have the vote overturned.
Megan Fox, the preferred moderate candidate who was elected vice-president, will serve as acting president until the party reconvenes to fill the vacant president's position.
The appeal against the result at the annual general meeting was understood to have been broad.
The party's constitution sets out five grounds for appeal, including evidence of vote fraud or tampering, vote counting was inconsistent with the constitution, the meeting was not notified correctly, members were charged to attend the meeting, or qualified members were excluded.
No other elected positions were appealed, and all others elected at the meeting have immediately taken up their management committee roles.
Mr Cziesla is understood not to have had the support of Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee but was backed by then deputy opposition leader Jeremy Hanson.
Mr Hanson has since lost the deputy leadership in a party room ballot, and was moved to the backbench in a reshuffle on Thursday.
Party members who were present at the Liberals' annual general meeting described it as a strong endorsement of a more moderate vision for the party, despite not electing a moderate president.
The party has long been dominated by its conservative flank, however insiders say the departure of Mr Seselja, who has moved over the border and lost a NSW Senate preselection battle, has allowed the party to begin moving towards the centre.
