Four women eager to step into Bishop’s shoes

Five people, including four women, will contest Liberal Party preselection to replace Julie ­Bishop in the prized seat of Curtin.

Former Universit­y of Notre Dame vice-chancellor Celia Hammond.

Five people, including four women, will contest Liberal Party preselection to replace Julie ­Bishop in the prized West Aust­ralian seat of Curtin.

Among them is former Universit­y of Notre Dame vice-chancellor Celia Hammond, 50, who is considered by many to be the frontrunner.

Her main rival will be foreign affairs specialist Erin Watson-Lynn, 33, who is believed to have the backing of Ms Bishop.

Nominations for the preselection ballot closed last night. The other nominees are Aurizon genera­l manager Anna Darnell, longstanding Liberal figure­ And­res Timmermanis and former Rio Tinto engineer Karen Caddy.

The Australian revealed this week that Liberal powerbrokers, including Mathias Cormann, worked behind the scenes for weeks to install Professor Hammon­d as a replacement for Ms Bishop, in part to thwart plans by Ms Bishop to help choose her successor.

Julie Bishop..

Professor Hammond resigned as vice-chancellor of Notre Dame University this week to nominate for preselection for Curtin, one of the safest Liberal seats in the country. She is well-connected in Perth business circles and is believed­ to be close to many people within the Liberal Party.

As vice-chancellor for the past decade, Professor Hammond is credited with improving the private­ Catholic university’s performa­nce and reputation.

She joined the Liberal Party only in December, when talks are said to have begun to line up a ­replacement for Ms Bishop, who was widely expected to resign before­ the federal election.

Relations between Ms Bishop and many Liberal colleagues have been strained since she lost last year’s leadership spill. None of her WA colleagues voted for her.

In her retirement speech last month, she said she planned to work with the next Liberal candidat­e to retain Curtin after being contacted by several “extraordina­ry people, including women” who wanted to contest the election.