A breakthrough deal to reunite the Coalition is expected to be announced today after 11th-hour talks between the leaders of the Liberal and National parties.

The agreement follows a messy split, which saw the two parties sit separately in parliament last week.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley had initially demanded a six-month suspension from shadow cabinet for three Nationals senators, dropped from the frontbench after splitting with the Liberals to vote against the government’s hate groups bill.

Nationals leader David Littleproud told Nine this morning he made it “very clear” that he was open to reunification if the National senators were reinstated. 

“We’ve been very consistent all the way,” he said.

The Liberal leader has now given ground, agreeing to a much shorter suspension, meaning the shadow ministers will return on March 1.

Senior Liberal sources say it will be a six-week suspension in total, while a senior Nationals source says it works out at only five weeks.

The Nationals, who all left the frontbench in solidarity with the three senators, will all return at the same time, but leader David Littleproud and deputy leader Kevin Hogan will resume attending shadow cabinet meetings immediately in their leadership capacity.

Under the agreement, the Nationals have agreed to respect the solidarity of shadow cabinet, which can only be overturned by the joint Coalition party room, not the National Party alone.

This will be codified in writing to provide a greater level of trust, after two splits in the Coalition since the last election.

The deal represents a compromise from both leaders, who have been under pressure from their respective parties to reunite.

Liberal sources say Ms Ley spoke to every member of the Liberal party room to canvas their views on reuniting with the Nationals and came to the conclusion it was best to reach a compromise settlement, rather than allow a more permanent split between the parties.