The battle for Mackellar could come down to Sophie v Sophie

The NSW Liberals have been urged to reopen nominations for the teal-held seat of Mackellar after senior women in the party convinced northern beaches stalwart Sophie Stokes to run.

Stokes, a finance executive who has lived in the electorate all her life and is the wife of former NSW minister Rob Stokes, was convinced to make a play for the federal seat in a bid to oust teal independent Sophie Scamps.

However, nominations for the seat closed abruptly as the Liberals were contesting the byelection for the local state seat of Pittwater earlier this month. Stokes was heavily involved in the campaign of Liberal candidate Georgia Ryburn, who had also been courted to consider a federal tilt.

Finance executive Sophie Stokes with her husband, former NSW minister Rob Stokes, in 2021.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Ryburn, a victim of the party’s local council nominations snafu, was defeated by teal candidate Jacqui Scruby, but not before nominations for Mackellar had closed.

Stokes has long ties to Mackellar, including with the Mona Vale Surf Life Saving Club, which senior women in the party see as crucial after the Scruby camp campaigned strongly on Ryburn’s address being outside Pittwater’s boundaries in the byelection.

Scruby’s team covered the Pittwater electorate, in the area infamously known as the “insular peninsula”, with corflutes stressing that Ryburn was not a local.

Sophie Scamps (right) campaigning for teal independent Jacqui Scruby at the 2023 state election. Scruby was elected in a byelection this month. Credit: James Brickwood

As well as local ties, many in the party are convinced the Liberals need a well-known female candidate to take on Scamps, who was elected in the teal wave at the 2022 election.

Stokes was contacted for comment.

Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Nominations for Mackellar, formerly held by Liberal Jason Falinksi, and teal Zali Steggall’s electorate of Warringah, formerly held by Tony Abbott, opened at the same time. Warringah’s nominations are yet to close.

The candidates who have nominated for preselection in Mackellar include Michael Gencher, the Australian executive director of Israel advocacy group StandWithUs, former Qantas pilot and founder of Pandora Jewellery Brook Adcock, and national security expert Lincoln Palmer.

Former RSL president James Brown, not-for-profit director Paul Nettelbeck and deafness advocate David Brady have also nominated.

Catholic high school teacher and author Vicky McGahey is the only female candidate in the mix.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had previously asked Rob Stokes to run for Mackellar.

The three-person panel appointed to run the party’s embattled NSW division after the nominations debacle will meet this week to consider Stokes’ request.

However, two senior northern beaches Liberals not authorised to speak publicly said there would be “outrage” if nominations were reopened to accommodate Stokes.

“That would go down like a lead balloon,” one Liberal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid breaking party rules, said.

Scamps seized the blue-ribbon seat of Mackellar as part of a backlash against the Morrison government along with other teal candidates, including Allegra Spender in Wentworth and Kylea Tink in North Sydney.

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