MARANOA MP David Littleproud has won the contest to lead the National Party, this morning beating outgoing deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and Victorian MP Darren Chester.

The western Queensland-based politician and former agriculture minister will lead the party in opposition with New South Wales MP Perin Davey as the deputy and Bridget McKenzie as the Senate Leader.

Speaking to media after this morning’s leadership contest, Mr Littleproud said while the Nationals kept all its seats this election, there was emerging threats to the party.

“There’s a lot of emotion going around at the moment, there’s a lot of people that are hurting and we have to respect that,” he said.

“Part of the process for us moving forward is to understand and try and make sure that as a National Party and as a Coalition we make sure that we can clearly annunciate how we can move forward.”

In a statement on his Facebook Page, outgoing Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce congratulated the new leadership team and vowed to spend more time in his electorate of New England.

Labor still to announce front bench

While Mr Littleproud has become the Nationals leader, the Coatlition’s election loss means a new agriculture minister will be instated.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to announce his front bench this week, with plenty of speculation about who will be the next agriculture minister.

Agriculture spokeswoman Julie Collins was criticised for a lack of policies in the campaign and other names have been put forward for the portfolio, including former opposition leader Bill Shorten.