Federal election 2025: Trumpet of Patriots leader Suellen Wrightson shuts down social media accounts

The leader of the Clive Palmer-backed Trumpet of Patriots party has shut down her social media accounts following its poor election performance, despite bombarding voters with spam text messages and spending millions on advertising.

Suellen Wrightson, who stood in the NSW seat of Hunter and was dubbed by Mr Palmer as “Australia’s next prime minister”, achieved just 3.4 per cent of the vote by Sunday morning.

She shut down and locked her Facebook and Instagram accounts after the election.

In a final post on X, she congratulated Labor leader Anthony Albanese on his victory and gave her commiserations to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who lost his Queensland seat of Dickson.

“The Australian people have spoken,” she wrote on X.

“Importantly, we will use this decisive Labor victory to reevaluate our position, listen, learn and continue to present the important political issues to the Australian people.”

Businessman Clive Palmer launched Trumpets of Patriots in February — promising to adopt many policies of US President Donald Trump — after losing a bid to re-register his United Australia Party in the High Court.

The party splurged more than $6.8 million on advertising and prompted widespread complaints after it sent voters multiple unsolicited text messages in the lead-up to Saturday’s poll.