Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson welcomes Dugald Saunders as new leader of NSW Nationals replacing Paul Toole

The first day of the new parliament was thrown into disarray as the junior Coalition partner spilled the leadership of the party.

"We thank Paul Toole for his period of service in relation to being the leader," Mr Anderson told the Leader on Monday afternoon.

"It was the party room's view that it was time for a change and they voted that way today."

During the leadership vote, both Mr Toole and Mr Saunders nominated for the position with the latter winning the party room vote 10 to 5, according to party sources.

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NSW National party members met in Sydney on Monday to discuss the leadership of Mr Toole amid accusations - made public in media reports - he had lied about a plan by Nationals upper house MP Ben Franklin to nominate for a plum parliamentary position.

Mr Franklin told media that Mr Toole had initially supported his plan to nominate for the position of president of the upper house after telling metropolitan media last week that he "should not be accepting the position".

Mr Anderson would not weigh into the conversations between his colleagues engulfing the party but said on Monday the situation was a matter of "he said, she said".

"From my perspective, it is about making sure that we are a solid opposition holding the government to account," he said.

"We've got parliament sitting, so it's good to have that settled. And we can get on with representing our communities."

Mr Anderson would not reveal who he voted for on Monday.

Mr Saunders was unsuccessful in April in his bid to challenge the leadership from Mr Toole who had been in the role since 2021 after taking over from NSW premier John Barilaro.

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline.

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