The race to secure one of the Victorian Liberal Party’s safest upper house positions is underway, with Melbourne Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell emerging as the early frontrunner after nominations closed for the Western Metropolitan Region preselection on Monday afternoon.

Applications for the coveted number one position on the Liberal Party’s Western Metropolitan Legislative Council ticket closed at 5 pm on 27 July, setting the stage for another closely watched internal contest following the disendorsement of former MP Moira Deeming earlier this month.

The Australia Today understands Ms Campbell has formally nominated for the lead position and is currently regarded by senior Liberal figures as the candidate to watch.

Multiple party sources told The Australia Today that influential Western Metropolitan Liberal figure Dinesh Gourisetty has decided not to contest this time and is backing Ms Campbell’s candidacy.

Mr Gourisetty told The Australia Today, he doesn’t want to create a distraction for the Liberal Party and Leader Jess Wilson from their campaign to remove this incompetent Labor government.

“I want to thank all the party members who contacted me in support of my recontesting in the preselection; however, I would like to focus on serving the community and strengthening the party.”

The Australia Today has independently confirmed from three separate party sources that phone calls were made over recent days canvassing support for Ms Campbell among key decision-makers ahead of Monday’s nomination deadline.

When contacted by The Australia Today, Ms Campbell declined to comment.

She cited Liberal Party rules preventing applicants from publicly discussing their candidacy while the preselection process remains underway.

Campbell, a barrister and Melbourne’s Deputy Lord Mayor, previously contested the 2023 Aston federal by-election and has been widely regarded as one of the Liberal Party’s rising moderate figures. Party insiders have for several days identified her among the leading contenders for the vacancy.

Her selection would also place a woman at the top of the ticket following Mrs Deeming’s removal and could help the party draw a line under the bitter internal divisions surrounding the seat.

Trung Luu seeks promotion to top spot

Also confirming his candidacy is sitting Liberal upper house MP Trung Luu, who is attempting to move from the number two position on the party’s ticket to the all-important first position.

The former Victoria Police forensic officer has represented Western Metropolitan Region since the 2022 state election and is already endorsed for the second position on the Liberal ticket.

He has built his parliamentary profile around crime, community safety, multicultural representation and services in Melbourne’s west.

Several senior members of the parliamentary party have reportedly argued that the sitting MP should be elevated to the first position rather than requiring him to defend the less secure second spot.

Former Liberal leader and shadow police minister Brad Battin was reported to have urged senior party figures to support Mr Luu.

Mr Luu was previously endorsed in the second position during the party’s earlier preselection process.

However, The Australia Today understands that by choosing to contest the lead position, his previous endorsement for the second spot will lapse under party rules, leaving the number two position vacant for a future preselection process.

Mr Luu also declined to comment when approached.

Former adviser enters race

Former Liberal staffer Mark J. Briers has also lodged his nomination, publicly confirming his candidacy on social media shortly before nominations closed.

Announcing his decision, Briers said Victoria needed “a fresh candidate for Melbourne’s west” and argued the Liberal Party should reconnect with aspirational voters.

He pointed to his experience across government, corporate and small business sectors, saying he wanted to help rebuild confidence among families and business owners facing cost-of-living pressures.

Briers said his campaign was motivated by conversations with residents struggling with rising living costs, business closures, crime and housing affordability.

“I’m running to make the Liberal Party the party of aspiration again,” he wrote.

“I won’t waste a minute helping to deliver lower taxes, cost of living relief, business confidence and cracking down on crime to make our streets safe.”

Long-time Liberal also nominates

Long-serving Liberal member Richard Lange has also submitted his nomination, bringing the confirmed field to at least four candidates.

The contest follows months of upheaval within the Victorian Liberal Party over the Western Metropolitan ticket.

Earlier this year, businessman Dinesh Gourisetty defeated Moira Deeming in a delegate ballot before his endorsement was overturned after controversy surrounding a character reference he had written in an unrelated criminal matter. The party subsequently reopened the process, and following further internal disputes Deeming was eventually disendorsed by the Liberal state executive, triggering the current vacancy.

Unlike a traditional grassroots preselection voted on by local party members, the successful candidate is expected to be determined by the Victorian Liberal Party State Executive, giving senior party officials the final say over one of the Coalition’s strongest upper house positions.

With the Liberal Party seeking to reset ahead of November’s state election under Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, the outcome of the Western Metropolitan preselection is expected to be one of the most closely watched internal decisions of the campaign.

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