Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman reveals he offered to quit twice

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman has revealed he offered to resign twice before the election but the idea was rejected by party bosses.

Breaking his silence on the LNP’s election loss, Mr Newman told the Courier Mail he “put it on the table” because he didn’t want to pull the team down.

“I wanted them to have the best opportunity. I was genuine about it and quite happy to have given a new leader a chance to lead us into the election if I was an electoral liability,” Mr Newman said.

He reportedly first offered to quit in the first parliament week after Labor’s Dr Aythony Lynham claimed the seat of Stafford in a by-election on July 19.

At that stage he had been premier for more than two years, state opposition leader for a year prior, and had served seven years as Lord Mayor and two years as council opposition leader before that.

“That’s a long stint,” he said. “But I was told very clearly that I should continue on.”

He said he made a second offer to quit two or three months later.

Further revelations are expected to be made in Mr Newman’s biography which will be released later this year.