Hills Shire Mayor Michelle Byrne, councillors ousted by NSW Liberal Party

A campaign to encourage more female representation on local councils didn’t save a Sydney mayor from being ousted just days before nominations open for the December elections.

Hills Shire Mayor Michelle Byrne and the majority of her party colleagues have officially been ousted in a shock move approved by the Liberal Party State Executive.

Cr Byrne, who is also a member of the Liberal Party State Executive which cemented her demise, will be replaced on the party ticket by sitting north ward councillor Peter Gangemi.

The move comes just weeks after The Hills Shire Times revealed hard right factional members of the Liberal Party’s Local Government Oversight Committee called for the first popularly elected mayor of The Hills to be ousted to allow for candidates to be “cherry-picked” by the party.

A party source close to the situation said factional bosses on the state executive had “put the NSW Liberals in a state of disrepair”.

Hills Shire Mayor Michelle Byrne has been ousted by the NSW Liberal Party. AAP IMAGE / Troy Snook)

“The Liberals are in crisis, this move to oust a sitting mayor — and a member of the State Executive — for a cherrypicked candidate is an assassination of women in local government,” the source said.

The Liberal source said party president and Hornsby Mayor Philip Ruddock could have withdrawn the motion from the state executive meeting, “but didn’t do anything”.

“The party clearly has a problem with women, here we have a successful mayor in northwest Sydney dumped because she is not from the hard-right faction, not pro-development and isn’t a Catholic.”

As Liberal Party president, Philip Ruddock, had the power to decide whether the party’s state executive sealed Cr Byrne and her colleagues’ fates — or the decision was to be put to a vote by grassroots members at a preselection.

Cr Ruddock opted to allow the state executive to decide, while obstaining from voting on the matter himself.

Liberal Party President Philip Ruddock. AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi)

However, NewsLocal understands the party president was advised there was time to hold preselections for the council’s seats before Local Government Elections on December 4.

It is understood centre-right councillors Frank De Masi and Reena Jethi have been returned as party of the party ticket.

Hills councillor Frank De Masi (AAP IMAGE / Angelo Velardo)

Hills councillor Reena Jethi.

The decision comes just a week out from nominations opening for the Local Government Elections, where Minister Shelly Hancock urged “more women” to be nominated as candidates.

Candidate nominations open on October 25 and close on November 3.