Henry Pike officially endorsed as LNP candidate for the seat of Bowman

The man picked to replace Queensland MP Andrew Laming has been officially endorsed by the LNP’s top brass after a tumultuous preselection and investigation process.

The man picked to replace Queensland MP Andrew Laming has been officially endorsed by the LNP’s top brass after a tumultuous preselection and investigation process.

Henry Pike was officially ratified as the LNP’s candidate for the federal seat of Bowman at a meeting of the party’s state executive on Friday.

Mr Pike’s tumultuous journey to candidacy included an apology days out from the preselection vote for sexist text messages sent during his time as a Young Liberal in the ACT.

A Property Council adviser, Mr Pike won the LNP’s endorsement over party legal ­adviser Maggie Forrest by 19 votes.

He also beat out three-time Redlands mayor Karen Williams, who was recruited into the LNP earlier this year.

Bowman election LNP candidate Henry Pike is Andrew Laming's replacement in the Brisbane bayside seat.

His victory as the only male candidate in a five-way preselection fight triggered further tensions within the party, including the exit of Bowman branch chair Craig Luxton immediately after the vote.

Mr Luxton then complained to the LNP for failing to investigate alleged interference of the preselection process by Mr Pike.

This sparked a formal investigation into the matter by the LNP’s disputes committee, whose findings were presented to state executive on Friday.

The formal findings of the disputes committee have not been made public, though supporters of Mr Pike were confident prior to the meeting that his candidacy was not under threat.

The LNP is yet to make a comment about the decision.

Labor’s candidate for the seat of Bowman is Donisha Duff, a health professional.