PM snubbed as James McGrath beats Amanda Stoker for top spot on Queensland senate ticket

Scott Morrison snubbed as his newly promoted Assistant Minister for Women is roundly beaten by backbencher James McGrath.

James McGrath has secured top spot on the Queensland LNP senate ticket. Picture: Liam Kidston

Queensland Coalition backbencher James McGrath has secured the top spot on the Liberal National Party senate ticket for the next federal election in a win over rising conservative star and newly-minted assistant minister Amanda Stoker.

The vote of the LNP State Council in Brisbane on Saturday put Liberal Senator McGrath at number one on the ticket, followed by the Nationals Matt Canavan at number two and Senator Stoker at number three.

It means that Senator Stoker’s political future is under a cloud, with the LNP’s number three spot tougher to secure re-election although it is still winnable on an analysis of previous federal election results.

Under LNP rules, devised ahead of the 2008 state merger of the two conservative parties, the one and three spots are reserved for Liberals and the number two position for The Nationals.

The predicted close contest between the Liberals didn’t eventuate, with Senator McGrath thrashing Senator Stoker for the top spot by 212 votes to 101.

Amanda Stoker. Picture: Liam Kidston

It was the biggest ever turnout for a State Council senate vote in the history of the LNP.

Senator Stoker, 38, and Senator McGrath, 46, both went into the showdown with the endorsement of prime minister Scott Morrison who didn’t want to be seen to be taking sides.

But the defeat of Senator Stoker, who has been in the senate just three years, will be seen as a snub to Mr Morrison, who recently made her Assistant Minister for Women after the recent rape and bullying allegations in parliament

The Brisbane-based mother of three is a darling of the conservative right, which champions free speech and Christian values, and ­cheerfully courts controversy by speaking out against abortion, ­voluntary euthanasia and sex reassignment for transgender teens..

Senator McGrath, a one-time assistant minister in the Turnbull government, is understood to have travelled the length and breadth of Queensland in recent months rallying votes in LNP branches.

A former professional political campaigner, who helped Boris Johnson win the mayoralty in London, Senator McGrath pitched that the party should vote him into the top spot so he could concentrate on running the campaign to shore up “fortress Queensland” at the coming federal election.