Bruce Flegg

Who is Bruce Flegg?

Dr Bruce Stephen Flegg is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2004, representing the electorate of Moggill for the Liberal Party of Australia and its successor the Liberal National Party. He was the leader of the state Liberal Party from 2006 to 2007 and served as Minister for Housing and Public Works in the Newman government from April to November 2012.

Flegg was born in Sydney and was a general practitioner before entering politics. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 2004 state election, replacing former Liberal leader David Watson in the safe Liberal seat of Moggill. He was immediately elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party upon his election, and succeeded Bob Quinn as leader in 2006. He had only been Liberal leader for a number of days when then-Premier Peter Beattie called the 2006 state election, which the conservative parties lost decisively. He faced wide criticism in the wake of the election defeat regarding his performance during the campaign, and faced speculation of a challenge from rival Tim Nicholls. Nicholls was unable to gain sufficient support to oust Flegg in a closely divided caucus, but following ongoing tension, Flegg resigned as leader on 4 December 2007 and was succeeded by compromise candidate Mark McArdle.