Liberal Party strategists have completed a lengthy post-mortem of the 2022 election and say they have come up with the perfect candidate to contest the blue-ribbon seat they spectacularly lost two years ago.
“We’ve spent the past two years analysing the data and talking to voters and it’s clear to us that they want a fresh approach.
“What we’ve heard loud and clear is that voters want something different – preferably a female candidate, someone who isn’t tainted by the Scott Morrison years, who’s not part of the political machine, who has forged a successful career before getting into politics. In a nutshell, someone new. So we’re putting forward Josh Frydenberg,” one Liberal strategist said.
Another insider said the Party had done its homework and knew how to win back Kooyong. “You’ve got to ask yourself, what type of candidate do you want running for you in a must-win electorate that has told us they want something different? A talented, young female candidate or someone who lost the seat convincingly last time around? I think the answer is pretty obvious.
“Josh is a known quantity. As in, people know they don’t want him. It’s why we think he’ll be great at the next election.
He rejected the notion that turfing a pre-selected female candidate was a bad look. “We need more women in the party, sure. But the best way to do that is to elect a moderate male candidate, who can then go on to possibly be Prime Minister at some undefined point in the future, and can then, once he’s in the top job, do more to promote women. Or something like that”.
