Several winnable federal seats missing Liberal and Labor candidates, days before expected election campaign – ABC News

Politicians often say every seat matters in an election, so it's jarring to see several key electorates without candidates just days out from a campaign.

This isn't normal. Candidates do sometimes drop out. Some are hit with scandals. But these are normally isolated cases unlike the rump of winnable seats currently without Liberal candidates.

Much of this is due to a factional battle between three groups in the New South Wales Liberal Party that has held back pre-selections for cabinet minister Sussan Ley, moderate Trent Zimmerman and the Prime Minister's numbers-man Alex Hawke.

These preselections are now secured and the seats are safe.

The bigger problem is missing candidates in seats like Lilley (on a margin of 0.6 per cent), Eden-Monaro (0.9 per cent), Greenway (2.8 per cent), Parramatta (3.5 per cent) or contestable seats like Warringah (7.2 per cent), Jagajaga (5.9 per cent) and Bennelong (6.9 per cent).

"What's remarkable is there are a couple of government seats they need to defend like Bennelong, where they haven't picked a candidate, or Hughes, where Craig Kelly is running for the United Australia Party," ABC election analyst Antony Green said.

"And then there are marginal Labor seats like Parramatta and Greenway that are still vacant.

"If you're trying to win a seat or hold a marginal seat you'd be wanting to campaign for months and have your name out there around shopping centres, and at this stage, the best the Liberal party can do is put out a generic leaflet as there's no candidate they can name."

Candidates may be announced for these seats before the election is called, but the delay means less time to boost name recognition, raise moneyand campaign.

"The personal vote of sitting members is a little overstated sometimes, but it still can be worth up to 3 per cent in an urban seat," Mr Green said.

Labor is more organised in comparison but there are still some notable omissions.

It has no confirmed candidate in Parramatta where Julie Owens is retiring, although former Rudd advisor Andrew Charlton is likely to be pre-selected.

The party has no candidate to replace the retiring Antony Byrne in the Victorian seat of Holt and there's also no candidate in Bennelong. But most marginal seats are covered.

The Labor preselection process is also not without controversy.

A decision to parachute Kristina Keneally into the western Sydney seat of Fowler at the expense of local Vietnamese-Australian lawyer Tu Le was criticised at the time.

The Sydney Morning Herald revealed similar criticism over a push to install Mr Charlton, who has a $16 million home in Sydney's eastern suburbs, in Parramatta.

Local Labor members have told the ABC it is a "slap in the face" for the local multicultural community.

Not all Liberal headaches are due to factional jostling or delays.

In Lilley, candidate Ryan Shaw withdrew to focus on his mental health.

But it has played a role in seats like Warringah, where the Liberals preferred candidate reportedly resigned after an impasse on pre-selections.

Some marginal seats like Dobell (1.5 per cent) have only been filled in recent weeks, leaving only a short time to boost name recognition in the community.

The last day for candidates to be nominated for a seat is as soon as 10 days after the writs for an election are issued.

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Several winnable federal seats missing Liberal and Labor candidates, days before expected election campaign - ABC News