SYDNEY: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, a rare female voice in the Australian government, said yesterday she was quitting the frontbench after a failed tilt at the nation’s top job during a messy party-room coup, reports AFP.

The deputy chief of the Liberal Party, Bishop had put her hand up to be one of three candidates to replace former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in Friday’s leadership challenge, but received minimal support from colleagues even as opinion polls pointed to her popularity among voters.