Sussan Ley has walked back the quirky reason behind why she added an extra 'S' to her name. 

The new Liberal Party leader told The Australian newspaper in 2015 that she changed the official spelling of her name due to a youthful fascination with numerology. 

Numerology is an occult practice that ascribes meanings and significance to numbers.

'I read about this numerology theory that if you add the numbers that match the letters in your name you can change your personality,' Ley told the paper.

'I worked out that if you added an "s" I would have an incredibly exciting, interesting life and nothing would ever be boring.'

But now the Opposition Leader has changed her tune,dismissing it as a 'flippant' remark.   

'It was a flippant remark that I made to a journalist,' Ley told Tom Elliott on 3AW on Friday morning. 

'It’s actually not the reason. It was something I did during my rebel teenage years.

'And, you know, I went through a punk phase in those years and added the extra S. So, people have been fascinated by the numerology angle, but it’s actually not correct.'

Ley defeated former Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor to become the first woman to lead the Liberal Party in its 80-year history last month. 

Ley, a divorced mother of three and grandmother of six, certainly has had a colourful life. 

The 63-year-old has previously worked as an air traffic controller, an aerial stock mustering pilot, a shearers cook, a wool and beef farmer and public servant.

Ley went to university as a mum and as a mature aged student to complete a BA in economics and masters in tax and accounting.

She has been the Member for Farrer since 2001 and has served as a Cabinet Minister in the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments.