Warrnambool’s Jacinta Anderson and Portland’s Deborah Keiller will take part in the party member ballot alongside United Dairyfarmers Victoria (UDV) vice president Roma Britnell, who has also confirmed her candidacy.

Port Fairy’s Tom Napthine, Portland’s Anita Rank and Woodend’s Donna Petrovich round off the six-member contest and declared their pre-selection candidacy last week. The ballot was triggered by the resignation of former premier Denis Napthine last Monday.

Miss Anderson, 34, ran her fashion boutique Jacinta Catherine in Warrnambool’s city centre before opening a Melbourne outlet.

Mrs Keiller, 53, operates an accountancy firm in Portland but other details were not released by the party. She was unable to be contacted for comment. 

 Mrs Britnell, 48, attended St Ann’s College before training as a nurse at Warrnambool Base Hospital. The Woolsthorpe farmer rose to prominence as Victoria’s Rural Woman of the Year in 2009 and became UDV vice-president last year.

Due to the Liberal Party’s constitution, none of the six candidates can comment on the pre-selection but they can provide biographical details.

Warrnambool mayor Michael Neoh declared he would run for South West Coast pre-selection on the day Dr Napthine stood down as the constituency’s representative but pulled out of the race on Monday.

Cr Neoh told The Standard just minutes after the nomination deadline passed that he would not apply for the pre-selection process. He said he was “keeping his options open” but would not make any further statement. 

Meanwhile, four contenders have thrown their hats into the ring for Liberal Party pre-selection in Polwarth, following the resignation of incumbent MP Terry Mulder.

Geelong’s Jennifer Cromarty, Lorne’s Stephen Hishon, South Purrumbete’s Adam Jenkins and Colac’s Richard Riordan.

Mr Jenkins, 43, has served as UDV president since February and operates a dairy farm between Colac and Camperdown. Like his UDV colleague Mrs Britnell, he has also completed a Nuffield agricultural scholarship.

Mr Riordan, 43, is the owner-operator of Riordan Colac Hire and is on the board of the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority.

Mr Hishon is a real estate agent who served a term as a Ballarat City councillor in the early 2000s. Ms Cromarty operates a public relations firm in Geelong and ran as an upper house candidate for the Liberal Party at last year’s state election.

The Polwarth pre-selection ballot will be held in Colac on September 19 and the South West Coast ballot will be conducted in Warrnambool the following day. Both electorates are held by the Liberal Party on safe margins of more than 10 per cent.