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Angus Taylor has “rocks in his head” if he endorses Tony Abbott’s tilt at the federal Liberal presidency, according to insiders who warn the former prime minister would stir up drama and distraction for the opposition leader and his struggling party.

A contest is shaping up between Abbott and former foreign minister Alexander Downer to replace ex-South Australian premier John Olsen as Liberal Party president when the party’s federal council meets in Melbourne later this month.

Almost seven years after losing his seat in federal parliament, Abbott wants to return to frontline politics and will nominate for the president’s position if Taylor – a conservative factional ally – supports him.

“I would be happy to respond to a credible call to serve the party as president. I want the Liberal Party to be the best version of itself and in any capacity at all will be striving to make Angus Taylor Australia’s 32nd prime minister,” Abbott said in a statement.

The federal presidency is an unpaid role that oversees the party’s administrative wing and campaigning infrastructure, working at arm’s length from the parliamentary party and typically away from the media spotlight.

But moderate Liberals fear that Abbott would present a continual distraction for Taylor given his profile and hardline views, in particular about immigration.

One Liberal source said many inside the party already considered Abbott as a “shadow opposition leader”, such is his influence.

“He (Abbott) doesn’t want to be a sideshow, he wants to be the main character,” they said. “We don’t need more drama.”

Another source said Abbott would not be able to resist acting as a de-facto leader and influencing policy from the president’s chair.

“If you’re putting yourself forward to the Australian public as an[alternative] prime minister, people don’t want to think you’ve delegated power to another former prime minister,” one moderate Liberal of Taylor.

“If Angus does that he’s got rocks in his head.”

In his statement to Guardian Australia, Abbott said that, as a former parliamentary leader, he understood the president’s job would be to support Taylor to win.

“Australia remains the greatest country on earth, but our nation needs a rejuvenated Liberal Party to arrest our current decline and restore hope to future generations that our best days are still ahead,” he said.

Speaking on the eve of the Farrer byelection, Taylor praised Abbott as a great friend and a great Australian but said it was up to him if he wanted to run for the presidency.

“Tony is going to keep making a magnificent contribution to this country, as he has in the past,” the opposition leader said.

Asked again if he would back Abbott’s tilt, Taylor said: “I think he’s going to make a big contribution and it’s up to him … he’ll make his own decisions.”

Nominations for the position will open in the next fortnight before the federal council meeting on 29-30 May.

Two senior sources doubted the president’s position would be contested, suggesting either Abbott or Downer would step aside to allow the other a clear run.

Liberals close to Abbott believe the 68-year-old still craves a return to federal parliament and would be prepared to pass over the presidency in the hope of securing a seat.

Downer confirmed he would nominate for the position, which he described as an “administrative job, not a policy job”.

“I wouldn’t be going into it to promote particular policies … but to give back to a political party which has given so much to me over the years. These are difficult times for the Liberal Party. So I think some of us who benefited during the Howard government ought to give something back to the party when it’s in some difficulty.”