One of Australia’s leading election analysts has claimed the Western Victoria region was the most likely to elect one of the small parties to the final spot in the state’s upper house.

A record number of minor parties will contest next month’s state election including Family First and the Australian Sex Party, with the Legislative Council’s proportional system handing them an electoral advantage.

Several new candidates have publicly declared a run for public office in recent weeks with the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) deadline for registration fast approaching. People Power candidate Philip Gluyas visited Warrnambool yesterday as part of his campaign for Western Victoria.

He said the minor party was primarily focused on the rollback of the state government’s smart meter intitative.

“Smart meters were brought in by the Brumby government and continued by the Baillieu and Napthine governments, but no one gets a say in stopping them,” Mr Gluyas said.

“I’m also calling for more public housing. We keep being told there’s plenty of public housing available in Ballarat, Warrnambool and Geelong, but I know for a fact there is a serious shortage and people are being forced to wait for months.”

One of the minor parties most likely to secure the fifth spot, Democratic Labour, will announce its candidate next week.

The DLP has entered a preference sharing arrangement with several other minor parties in which it will have first say on Western Victoria.

DLP state secretary Michael Murphy said the party was also interested in contesting lower house seats including Premier Denis Napthine’s electorate of South West Coast.

Australian Cycling Party president Omar Khalifa said the bike-focused group will look to contest Western Victoria with a candidate due to be announced within weeks.

Other minor party candidates already declared include Anne Foster for the Australian Christians, Lloyd Davies for the Greens, Adrian Whitehead for Save the Planet, Jayden Millard for the Sex Party and Garry Kerr for Country Alliance.

Palmer United is also expected to run candidates, although few have been announced for either the lower or upper houses so far.