WA Liberal State director Stuart Smith set to leave for Victorian job

The decimated WA Liberal Party is set for even more turmoil with its State director Stuart Smith linked to a move east — less than two years after taking the role — to lead the party’s Victorian division.

It was reported on Wednesday that Mr Smith had been recommended for the Victorian position ahead of former State MP Louise Staley following a three-month recruitment process.

Mr Smith, who declined to comment, was appointed to the WA role shortly after Mark McGowan’s landslide re-election victory in May 2021, when the Liberals were reduced to just two seats in the Lower House and lost their status as the opposition party.

The party was dealt an additional blow when it lost all but one of its seats in Perth at the last Federal election.

Mr Smith, who was coming off the success of a Liberal re-election victory in Tasmania, was tasked with helping to implement a range of reforms over the WA Liberals’ candidate selection process.

He has spent 20 months in the position following on from an 18-month stint in Tasmania, which makes him the second-longest serving Liberal State director in the country behind NSW’s Chris Stone.

The expected departure comes just months after WA Liberal Party president Richard Wilson quit and slammed the party’s “toxic self-interest”.

The State party has introduced new rules since its defeat aimed at curbing the influence of a faction of powerbrokers known as The Clan.

The inner-workings of the group — led by MLC’s Nick Goiran and Peter Collier - were exposed in Whatsapp messages published by The West.

The party now grants every member a vote in their local candidate preselection.

New Liberal leader Libby Mettam also took action against The Clan, stripping Mr Goiran of his shadow portfolios and only withholding from taking similar action against Mr Collier after he issued an apology.

Mr Smith’s likely appointment has drawn criticism from some Liberals in Victoria.

The Age has reported that one MP said Mr Smith would not “understand Victoria and its uniqueness” and another Liberal source stating “the question of an interstater is a touchy one”.