Mary Doyle to be Labor’s candidate in Tudge seat of Aston

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will formally announce Mary Doyle as Labor’s candidate for the byelection in the marginal Melbourne seat of Aston on Friday morning.

Nominations for potential Labor candidates for the seat closed on Thursday afternoon and Doyle – who slashed outgoing Liberal MP Alan Tudge’s margin from 10.1 per cent to just 2.8 per cent at the May 2022 election – was the only nominee.

Former union official Mary Doyle will contest the Aston byelection for Labor.

Doyle is a breast cancer survivor, mother of three and former union official with the National Tertiary Education Union and the Australian Council of Trade Unions who currently works for super fund HESTA.

Labor is hopeful of claiming the seat and increasing its one-seat majority in the House of Representatives, but on Tuesday Albanese told the Labor caucus that an incumbent government had not won a seat from an opposition at a byelection since 1920.

For both Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton – who has called for the Liberal Party to preselect a woman – the byelection is shaping as the first major test of their electoral standing since last year’s federal election.

A senior Labor source, who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to discuss the byelection, backed Albanese’s assessment that Labor would be the underdog, but welcomed the contest because “we will get a handle on how Dutton performs”.

“The margin and history means it’s not going to be easy, but the fact that it is in Melbourne will help us,” the source said.

The Liberal administration committee was also due to meet on Thursday evening to consider nominations. The party is likely to proceed with a rank and file pre-selection unless the date of the byelection is set for late March or early April.

Oncologist and Guardian columnist Ranjana Srivastava will be among those vying to be the Liberal Party candidate for the seat, vacated by Tudge last week, along with barrister Roshena Campbell and former state MP Cathrine Burnett-Wake.

Srivastava, whose candidacy is being supported by former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett and former federal health minister Greg Hunt, said she had treated cancer patients in Aston and surrounding areas for 25 years.

“I welcome the Liberal Party’s resolve to include more professional women into our ranks in line with community expectations. I am humbled by the encouragement from senior party figures and grassroots members to seek preselection in Aston,” she said in a statement.

Campbell, who has the backing of former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, spruiked her two-decade membership of the party and said she would focus on easing cost-of-living pressures and delivering infrastructure projects in Aston.

“I proudly believe in our values and have always championed them,” she said in a statement.

“As a barrister, councillor, mother of three and lifelong Liberal, I am now seeking the support of all Aston members to be considered for preselection.

“If I am successful, I will live in the electorate.”

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