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Donna Hope who has reverted to her maiden name from her former surname of Bauer will also contest the seat. She was the state member of Carrum and lives in Dunkley. She became a flight attendant after leaving politics.

Party member and executive Peter Bain will also contest the seat, and more candidates may emerge when nominations are announced by the party.

Former Liberal MP Chris Crewther.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

None of the candidates were able to speak to The Age because Liberal Party rules prohibit nominees from discussing the race in the media.

The Victorian Liberal Party is considering whether to disallow about 20 people from staying on as members because their memberships were paid for by the same credit card, which is against party rules. Most of the members reside in Dunkley, but the vast majority would not have been members long enough to vote in the preselection, which is only open to those who have been members for more than two years.

The memberships were paid for by a party activist linked to the faction aligned to party president Robert Clark. The administrative committee recently assessed the memberships and heard from the party member, who argued many of those signed up were direct family members, which is within the rules.

Liberal Donna Hope.Credit:Simon Schluter

Two senior Liberal sources in Dunkley, who spoke anonymously to abide by party rules, said Mr Crewther had a rusted-on support base of about 20 local branch members, while Ms Coombes would attract the support of locals seeking new talent.

The Labor Party will be hoping Chris is chosen again, one source said. They know how to beat him, and he lost the Liberal base.

An electoral redistribution to adjust for population growth will create a safe Labor seat in Victorias north-west and will probably cause the Liberals to drop a seat in Western Australia. Accounting for the defection of NSW MP Craig Kelly, the Coalition will head into the election two seats short of the 76 members required to form government in the House of Representatives.

Peter Bain.Credit:Eddie Jim

The Liberals will spend heavily to campaign in Dunkley because Victoria is a state where few seats tend to swing, meaning efforts can be focused on key targets. The Liberals will also fight to hold onto Chisholm, in Melbournes eastern suburbs, which was won by 564 votes.

The preselection could take place in August owing to a delay caused by the rescheduling of the partys state council meeting. This was scheduled to go ahead last weekend but was delayed until late July because of the lockdown.

Read more from the original source:
A reality TV star and flight attendant take on Liberal stalwarts in preselection - The Age