Canberra Liberals prepare for Senate preselection

A former deputy ACT opposition leader, federal ministerial staffer and three-time Assembly candidate are thought to be among those lining up to take on David Pocock, who defeated the Liberals' Zed Seselja at the 2022 election.

The defeat - which Mr Seselja described as a "bitter blow" - left the Canberra Liberals without any federal representation for the first time since the territory first elected senators in 1975.

Nominations for the two spots on the Liberals' Senate ticket will close on Tuesday, April 9.

Giulia Jones, a former deputy leader of the ACT opposition, is expected to throwm her name into the ring.

Ms Jones, who was a conservative in the party room, resigned as a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly in May 2022, citing family commitments and health reasons.

Now the chief executive officer of Painaustralia, Ms Jones spoke out about her cancer diagnosis in May 2023, and announced she was in remission earlier this year.

Asked about a possible tilt at the Senate seat in June 2022, she said: "I'll take a year or two to do what I'm doing but I'm certainly not ruling it out."

Kacey Lam-Evans, who was picked as a running mate for Senator Seselja ahead of the last federal election, is also expected to nominate.

Ms Lam-Evans worked as an adviser to former Liberal minister Christopher Pyne up until his retirement from Federal Parliament, and is now a partner at his consulting firm. She is considered close to Ms Lee, a moderate Liberal.

Jacob Vadakkedathu is also thought to be a likely candidate.

Mr Vadakkedathu has run as a candidate in the last three ACT elections, including in the seat of Ginninderra in 2012, and Yerrabi in 2016 and 2020.

He is a former federal public servant, and once served as the president of the Federation of Indian Associations of the ACT.

A valid list of nominees will be announced on Tuesday, April 16, a week after the close of rolls, with the preselection vote to take place at the end of April.

The Senate candidacy is considered a hard sell by some in the party, in the wake of the 2022 loss, and with focus diverted to the upcoming territory election.

With just two ACT Senate seats, candidates will have to face off against Senator Pocock and Labor's Katy Gallagher, a senior government minister.