RETURN OF THE CHEESE
REMEMBER ME? Ex-MP for Corangamite Darren Cheeseman targets state election run
FORMER Corangamite MP Darren Cheeseman (main) is in the hunt to stand as the Labor candidate for South Barwon — potentially pitting him against sitting Liberal MP Andrew Katos (above) in next year’s state election.
THE former Corangamite MP who helped to bring down Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard as prime minister is eyeing a political comeback.
Darren Cheeseman is understood to be in the running for Labor pre-selection for the marginal South Barwon electorate, held by Liberal MP Andrew Katos.
A political source close to Mr Cheeseman confirmed his intention to run to the Geelong Advertiser, and said the 41year-old was being spurred on by support from Labor insiders.
Sources claim Baptist reverend Brent Lyons-Lee and former Geelong councillor Andy Richards are also in the running for ALP pre-selection, with the latter serving as the South Barwon Labor candidate at the 2014 state election.
Mr Richards achieved a small swing at the 2014 poll, mirroring the trend away from the Coalition Government statewide, although Mr Katos managed to retain the seat with a 2.9 per cent margin.
South Barwon was held by the Coalition from its creation in 1976 until the 2002 state election, when Labor MP Michael Crutchfield won the seat in the “Brackslide” poll.
Mr Katos defeated Mr Crutchfield at the 2010 state election, helping Ted Baillieu to bring the Coalition out of the political wilderness after more than a decade.
It would not be the first time Mr Cheeseman has stood for State Parliament.
The former union official originally took on Polwarth MP Terry Mulder at the 2006 state election in the ultra-safe Liberal constituency which takes in Colac and Apollo Bay.
The move was political training for Mr Cheeseman who stood as the Labor candidate at the 2007 federal election, defeating Liberal MP Stewart McArthur after a long run of Coalition dominance in the region.
He supported Ms Gillard in her bid to topple Mr Rudd as prime minister in 2010 but later changed his allegiance, backing Mr Rudd in his long quest to return to The Lodge.
He lost Corangamite to Lib- eral challenger Sarah Henderson at the 2013 federal election and tried to make a federal comeback in 2015.
Former Surf Coast mayor Libby Coker defeated Mr Cheeseman in the Corangamite Labor pre-selection before last year’s federal election, although Ms Coker went on to lose to Ms Henderson.
Mr Cheeseman has since gone off the radar and laid low in his home town of Ballarat.
If selected, it is understood he would potentially move back to resettle in South Barwon.