Dennis Jensen will stand as an independent at the July 2 election

DENNIS Jensen may have been ousted by his Liberal colleagues, but he will still be fighting for a place in Parliament — as an independent.

Dennis Jensen will be contesting the July 2 election as an Independent.

HE may have been rejected by preselectors in the safe WA Liberal seat of Tangney but Dennis Jensen isn’t giving up the fight yet.

Dr Jensen announced on Monday afternoon he would contest the election on July 2 as an independent.

He lost preselection for the seat amid claims of branch stacking. The seat is one of the Liberals most secure in Western Australia with a margin of 13 per cent after electoral boundaries were redrawn.

Despite running as an independent, he said today he would not resign from the Liberals.

Dr Jensen lost the ballot for preselection to Ben Morton, the party’s former state director, by 57 votes to seven.

Dennis Jensen: I will not be tendering my resignation from the Liberal Party, my views remain very much Liberal #auspol #ausvotes2016

— Political Alert (@political_alert) May 9, 2016

The Australian revealed in March that Mr Jensen used his parliamentary letterhead to seek a publishing deal for what he described as his “controversial” first book, The Sky Warriors.

The novel caused a stir because it contained some surprisingly graphic sex scenes.

He admitted he should not have sent the letter, but later questioned why the news of his use of parliamentary stationary came out just as he was set to face a tough preselection battle.

“I want to defend my reputation. I see this as an attempt to destroy my reputation,” he told Fairfax.

Originally published as Dennis Jensen will stand as an independent at the July 2 election