Hendy denies Abbott coup timing claims

One of the key players behind Malcolm Turnbull's rise to prime minister denies Tony Abbott's claims that the coup timing pre-empted a strong Liberal Party result in the Canning by-election.

In his first radio interview as a backbencher, Mr Abbott said the proponents of a leadership coup had to move before the by-election because a predicted strong Liberal result would have proved him re-electable.

But MP Peter Hendy, who was integral to Mr Abbott's downfall, told ABC radio on Tuesday there were a "different set of thought processes" by the group who met the night before to plot the coup.