The Canberra Times can also reveal the branch's vice-president, who helped steer Mr Seselja's failed campaign, has resigned from the party's management committee after moving interstate.

News of Angela Inglis's departure has emerged after a Gary Humphries-led group of disaffected members last week launched a bid to clear out the committee following the election result, which has left the Liberals without an ACT representative in Federal Parliament for the first time since the mid-1970s.

Canberra Liberals president John Cziesla this week told members the division would conduct a review of the ACT campaign, which would run parallel to a probe under way into the national strategy.

Aside from losing their Senate seat, the Liberals went backwards in Canberra's three lower house electorates.

The Canberra Times understands there was significant internal frustration and division during the campaign, as the party struggled to find volunteers to compete with Senator Pocock, the Greens and Labor.

One Liberal said "a strong sense of despair" pervaded the campaign, prompting "large numbers" of members to abandon the cause completely.

The Liberal campaign focused almost entirely on Mr Seselja, with lower house candidates Slade Minson, Jane Hiatt and Nathan Kuster largely kept out of the media spotlight.

The focus on Mr Seselja wasn't enough.

His primary vote crashed below 25 per cent, well short of what was needed to hold off Mr Pocock and a strong tide of preferences which flowed to him from the Greens and fellow independent Kim Rubenstein.

A common narrative ahead of the election was only a candidate with the former Wallabies captain's profile could unseat Mr Seselja, and even he would face an uphill task given the major parties' stranglehold on the ACT's Senate seats.

But internal research suggests the then Morrison government minister was in trouble even before the now independent senator announced his candidacy on December 16.

The Canberra Times has seen internal polling which showed the Liberals' primary vote at just 23 per cent.

The Greens were polling 17 per cent, putting them in a strong position to win the seat. Labor was on 40 per cent.

Professor Rubenstein was attracting just 2 per cent of the vote, while a generic independent gathered 6 per cent, according to the sample of 501 people.

Sources say the research was conducted late last year and presented to the Liberals' campaign team in early 2022, by which point it was out-of-date as Senator Pocock's entry had reshaped the contest.

The Canberra Times was only provided with extracts of the internal research, and hasn't seen details of the polling methodology.

It was understood the poll was one of a number of samples taken to get a reliable gauge of voter sentiment.

The only public opinions polls on the ACT Senate race were commissioned by Climate 200, the fundraising vehicle which backed Senator Pocock's campaign.

A March poll suggested Mr Seselja was in trouble, while one in April signalled he was heading for an historic defeat.

The Canberra Times last week revealed civil war had erupted inside the Canberra Liberals, after Mr Humphries' moderate-aligned Menzies Group circulated a petition pushing for a clean-out of the branch's management committee.

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It is understood the group is close to gathering the 30 signatures it needs to force a special division meeting.

The meeting would be used to pass a motion demanding five committee members - including Mr Cziesla - accept responsibility for the Senate loss and the 2020 ACT election defeat and immediately resign from their positions.

Senior Liberals last week would not comment on the petition as it was an internal matter. But a spokesman appeared to downplay its significance, noting the committee positions were already up for re-election before the end of the year.

Ms Inglis, the former Canberra Liberals vice-president, has already resigned from the committee after relocating to NSW. Committee members must live in the ACT under party rules.

It was understood Ms Inglis resigned on June 20, well before the petition was circulated.

Multiple sources have confirmed Ms Inglis was a close ally of Mr Seselja, having worked in his office and helped run his campaigns.

In a statement, Canberra Liberals director Kieran Douglas said: "A post-election review is an important and standard process after any election to help examine the campaign process and evaluate the reviews findings for the future."

He declined to comment on the polling.

Mr Seselja did not respond to requests for comment.

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