"We've changed, we've really, truly changed" is the message to the electorate.

It sounds a whole lot like 2015 all over again. That was when the federal Liberal party dumped Tony Abbott, who it was feared would lead the party to defeat at the next election despite having won convincingly in 2013, in favour of Malcolm Turnbull.

That of course set the stage for years of internal bickering. Moderate Malcolm and the Coalition barely scraped back in in 2016.

Another coup, the second in three years, prevented him from contesting the 2019 election which was ultimately won by Scott Morrison.

While nobody is saying that either Alistair Coe or Jeremy Hanson, who was reportedly "defeated handsomely" by Elizabeth Lee in this week's leadership ballot, are going to carry on like Tony Abbott and his supporters, Canberrans can't ignore the possibility the Liberal's conservative faction is only paying lip service to what is being marketed as a significant change of direction.

The party will need to do more than just change its leadership to win back the confidence of its lost voters. It's not going to be enough for Ms Lee to present as a moderate, youthful, and ethnically diverse party leader. She has to demonstrate that she has a united party behind her, and that all its members accept the need to move back towards the centre.

That is because the fundamental reason the ACT Liberals have repeatedly tanked is that they are contesting seats in Canberra, one of the most progressive jurisdictions in the country. A city that is highly educated, articulate, and socially aware. And, as Alistair Coe found out to his cost, ACT voters can add up. "Magic Pudding" economics just doesn't cut it here.

And these aren't the only problems facing the party. Gary Kent, the Canberra Liberals president from 2000 to 2007, writes in today's The Canberra Times that "the party is run by mates for the benefit of mates", that sitting MLAs and senators are insulated from pre-selection challenges, and that unless the party becomes "truly democratic" that it is doomed to failure in the 2024 Assembly election.

Former Liberal chief ministers, and moderates, Kate Carnell and Garry Humphries, who have both welcomed Ms Lee's election as an opportunity to reset the party's prospects for the 2024, have both called for a fresh - and genuine - approach.

"If you want a different result you do things differently," Ms Carnell said on Tuesday.

Mr Humphries, who said the change of face and pace would "show people there is new life and new direction in the party" warned that "if voters detect it's an arch conservative [party] parading behind a moderate leader they won't go for it".

All of that said, the ACT Liberals still have to strike a balance with their conservative supporters. While there was a three per cent swing against the party this time around the Liberals still returned nine MLAs to Labor's 10 in an election in which one in three Canberrans voted for either a minor party or an independent.

Moving too far towards the centre could prove to be just as dangerous as being too right wing. Ms Lee is going to have to master a very difficult balancing act over the next four years as she seeks to bring the party back to a competitive position.