Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup is among a growing number of Liberals who have lost their seat at the West Australian election.
With 15 per cent of votes counted in the seat of Dawesville on Saturday, first-term MP Mr Kirkup had attracted 30 per cent, a distant second to Labor's Lisa Munday on more than 56 per cent.
"What a tragedy, losing Zak Kirkup," fellow Liberal David Honey told ABC radio.
"He has been a fantastic power of strength and his resilience through this whole campaign has been really amazing."
Mr Kirkup has previously said that if he lost his seat, he would not recontest.
Liberal figures have called for reform as the party faces a wipeout in the state election, possibly holding as few as two seats - down from 13.
It also looks likely that the Nationals will become the official WA opposition, with more seats than the Liberals.
Mr Honey would not say who would lead the Liberal party.
"This will be a cleansing for the Liberal party and it will be up to us to get our act into gear," former WA Liberal leader Mike Nahan told the ABC.
"Unfortunately we (have) very few seats to work with."
A call by the Liberals to open WA borders while the state continued to deal with COVID-19 had done "immense" political damage, Dr Nahan added.
Retiring Liberal MP Dean Nalder said there were real concerns about the influence of conservative powerbrokers over the party.
"There seems to be this sense of anger (among voters)," he told Perth radio 6PR.
"Some people feel that we lost sight of our values as a Liberal party and we need to regain that."
Former Liberal MP Murray Cowper said the party would require a root-and-branch overhaul in the wake of the result.
"We have a house on fire - do we let it burn to the ground and rebuild from the ground up?," he told Seven News.
Dr Nahan said the party had failed to pull together as a team, potentially leaving it with nothing more than a "tennis team" in parliament.
Former premier Colin Barnett rejected suggestions the party had been doing well enough to win government before the pandemic struck.
"I doubt that was the case," he told ABC radio.
Australian Associated Press
