Jess Wilson, 35, capped a meteoric rise through the ranks of the Victorian Liberals to replace Brad Battin as opposition leader.
With the state election a year away, the first-term MP has tried to smooth over the dysfunction that resulted in three state Liberal leaders coming and going in the past 11 months.
Ms Wilson continued her refusal to say why Mr Battin lost the support of the partyroom but said the revolving door of leadership was over.
The first test of her tenure will come when she selects her shadow cabinet.
The young mother confirmed she was having conversations with her colleagues and gave no guarantees members would keep their portfolios.
She denied there were too many egos within the party for her to manage.
"Absolutely not," the Kew MP told reporters at state parliament.
"We are focused at the task at hand, which is the next election."
Mr Battin acknowledged there were probably many reasons he was rolled, including a frontbench reshuffle in October that promoted Ms Wilson to shadow treasurer and put several MPs offside.
"Obviously, internally we've had some challenges there and I made some changes people weren't happy with," he said.
After a "big night", the Berwick MP said Ms Wilson was in a great position to win the next election, expected on November 28, 2026.
"On the 29th of November, I hope to wake up with this hangover for a good reason," Mr Battin said.
Ms Wilson is viewed as a more electorally potent challenger to Labor, led by Premier Jacinta Allan.
The Victorian Liberals have changed leaders five times since 2018, whereas Labor has had just two since Daniel Andrews took command of the party in late 2010.
Retiring Liberal MP Kim Wells, who was treasurer under Liberal premier Ted Baillieu, conceded the optics of three leadership changes in 11 months were "not that great".
But he was confident the coup would end the party's unceasing internal strife as the new leadership team offered a cross-factional mix.
"That will add a certain amount of stability to what's going on moving forward now, focusing on a whole range of issues, not just law and order," Mr Wells said.
Ms Wilson, deputy Sam Groth and upper house deputy Evan Mulholland have all been in parliament for fewer than three years, while upper house leader Bev McArthur was elected in 2018.
Ms McArthur is in her mid-70s but Mr Wells argued the group offered generational change.
"These are very smart people," he said.
Minister Steve Dimopoulos, wheeled out to be Labor's attack dog in chief, scoffed at a claim from former opposition leader Michael O'Brien that Ms Wilson was the premier's "worst nightmare".
He described Ms Wilson as "breathtakingly inexperienced" and noted it took the Victorian Liberal Party three decades longer than Labor to elevate a woman to its highest post.
"I didn't have the golden parachute to the London School of Economics and to Josh Frydenberg's office," Mr Dimopoulos said of the latest Liberal leader.
Ms Allan suggested Ms Wilson's refusal to explain why "she's knifed her leader" demonstrated the community could not trust her to be up front and transparent.
The Victorian coalition must net at least 16 extra seats in the 88-seat parliament to form a majority government after spending all but four years out of office since the turn of the century.
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