New Mid West seat to be one to watch, according to experts, as Merome Beard and Shane Love go head-to-head

Political experts say the newly created Mid West seat will be a interesting watch when voters go to the ballot box, with one sitting member of Parliament set to lose their job. Eight candidates will fight for the seat, which takes in Nationals WA leader Shane Love’s former electorate of Moore, as well as parts of the former North West Central electorate held by Nationals-turned-Liberal defector Merome Beard. The seat includes areas as far north as the Shire of Carnarvon, as far east as the Shire of Meekatharra, and as far south as the Shire of Gingin. Former political reporter Peter Kennedy said it would be a hard-fought contest. “Two candidates have the advantage of being members of Parliament, which helps their profile,” he said. “That’ll be a battle royal.” Kennedy said it would be interesting to see how voters react to the newly created seat as well, but he expected the Liberal or Nationals candidate to take out the seat based on historic data. He added pressure may be on Mr Love, who as Opposition Leader may face a more difficult campaign. “He’ll be expected to be moving around, campaigning for National party candidates in other seats as well,” Mr Kennedy said. “This will take him out of the Mid West, so that’s something that he is going to have to consider, to make sure he doesn’t neglect his base.” University of WA school of social sciences Professor Amanda Davies said voters would be choosing the member they could trust the most, given the regional representation was set to be diluted as a result of the Upper House changes. “Can the electors trust that the member they’re going to vote for is going to be able to represent them very strongly in this next Parliament?” she said. “Because of that Upper House change and the loss of those regional seats and the regional voice, it’s really critical that the people that are representing regional communities in Parliament can do so very effectively.” Curtin University professor of public policy John Phillimore said it would be a fascinating watch due to Ms Beard going up against her former party leader, having been elected as a National. “Getting elected in a by-election as a National and then moving over to the Liberals because she knew her seat was going to be abolished . . . it was not a huge surprise,” he said. “You’d say Shane Love would probably be the favourite given most of the seat has come from his old seat rather than Merome Beard’s.” All political pundits agreed preferences would again be important, with Labor’s candidate Jenna Denton set to play an important role if she does not win the primary vote.

New Mid West seat to be one to watch, according to experts, as Merome Beard and Shane Love go head-to-head

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