Bridget McKenzie a non-starter in Mallee preselection

Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie will not run in the ­regional Victorian federal seat of Mallee.

Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie will not run in the ­regional Victorian federal seat of Mallee, despite failing for weeks to rule out a move to the lower house to succeed disgraced MP Andrew Broad.

Leading Nationals figures have pushed for a woman to succeed Mr Broad after he was revealed to be using a “sugar daddy” website to meet younger women overseas.

Senator McKenzie was immediately brought up as a potential candidate as she is the most prominent woman in the Nationals, and there had been numerous reports she has considered a move to the lower house.

Her office confirmed yesterday she would not run, but did not want to comment further.

However, Senator McKenzie is not as well connected to Mallee as she is to another seat to which she is often linked, Indi. Mallee locals told The Australian this would count against her in a preselection battle.

Senator McKenzie has been tipped in the media as a potential successor to Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, but several of her colleagues told The Australian last month that she was not widely considered leadership mat­erial within the party.

Victorian Nationals officials and her federal colleagues never believed she would run in Mallee.

Nominations for Nationals preselection in Mallee close ­tomorrow, with party members due to select their candidate on Jan­uary 19.

Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh has called for a ­female candidate, with Dried Fruits Australia chief Anne ­Mansell, Birchip Cropping Group chairwoman Caroline Welsh and former Citrus Australia chairwoman Tanya Chapman all being spoken of as potential contenders.

Mr Broad won Mallee by a margin of 21.3 per cent in 2016, but the Nationals lost the corresponding state seat of Mildura to former Labor mayor turned independent Ali Cupper on November 24.

Sky News commentator and former Tony Abbott chief of staff Peta Credlin is being encouraged to run for the Liberals in Mallee, having grown up in the local town of Wycheproof.