Alice Springs Mayor Damien Ryan set to stand for the seat of Araluen in 2020

Alice Springs Mayor Damien Ryan will contest the 2020 Territory election, standing for the Country Liberal Party

Alice Springs Mayor Damien Ryan will stand in the 2020 NT Election, running for the Country Liberal Party.

Alice Springs Mayor Damien Ryan will stand in the 2020 Territory election.

Alice Springs’ longest serving Mayor will contest the 2020 Territory election, standing for the Country Liberal Party.

Rumours have been circulating surrounding Mr. Ryan’s political ambitions in recent months with many tipping him to throw his hat in the ring.

The CLP announced their pre selections for the 2020 election on Saturday afternoon with Mr. Ryan to go head-to-head with independent Robyn Lambley for the seat of Araluen.

Joshua Burgoyne will also run for the CLP, contesting the electorate of Braitling where he will hope to unseat incumbent Dale Wakefield.

Joshua Burgoyne will contest the seat of Braitling at the 2020 NT election for the CLP.

Bill Yan will run in Namatjira.

In a statement released on Saturday, CLP leader Gary Higgins said the announcements signalled an exciting future for the NT.

“The CLP will offer Territorians a real alternative next year and the Parliamentary team is excited about the first tranche of our preselected candidates,” he said.

“We are building a strong team for 2020. The candidates announced (Saturday) offer a range of skills and experience and importantly are all passionate about and committed to the Northern Territory.

“There is much more hard work to be done and I’m confident our new team will be more than up to the task.

“There are real issues in the community and our candidates are all on-the-ground, committed individuals who are determined to fight tirelessly for their electorates.”

Higgins will himself run in the Top End electorate of Daly.