It will be a litmus test for the Coalition following Prime Minister Tony Abbott's leadership crisis in February. The federal government trails Labor in the national polls despite a well-received second budget and sustained focus on the economy and a tough national security stance. Leader of the House Christopher Pyne speaks with Liberal MP Don Randall during question time in 2013. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen ABC election analyst Antony Green said federal governments had suffered an average five per cent swing against them at two-party byelections over the past 25 years. "It's the normal course of events, particularly in the first term. A government usually comes to office with a good vote and it declines after that," he said. Mr Green said Mr Randall was a popular MP and "you'd expect the loss of a local member will cause some loss of support".

He said the earliest date a byelection could be held was August 29. Mr Randall was among a group of backbenchers who led the party room push against Mr Abbott in February, seconding a motion to spill the leadership. He declared at the time "I can't go to a shop without [constituents] saying to me `You guys have got to do something about your leader'". Mr Randall was comfortably returned for a fifth consecutive term at the last election and enjoyed a margin of more than 11 per cent. He campaigned against Labor's carbon tax and pledged strong action on border protection, jobs, the economy and cost-of-living pressures. He defeated Labor candidate Joanne Dean, in what the Liberals described as the ALP's "worst performance in the seat since 1963".

On Wednesday WA Premier Colin Barnett praised Mr Randall's hard work in the electorate and said he will be missed. "I think it's fair to say that Don had a colourful political career. But I think what needs to be recognised is his seat of Canning was a true marginal swinging seat and Don, through very hard work in his electorate and very strong support by the people of Canning, has made it his seat for the last 15 years," he said. Newspoll results show the Abbott government's popularity has fallen substantially in WA and the Coalition and Labor are tied at 50-50 on a two-party-preferred basis. Successive Newspolls this year have also shown Mr Barnett trailing West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan as preferred premier. Western Australia is due to hold an election in March 2017 and Mr Barnett has announced he will seek a third and final term.

A Newspoll conducted between April and June showed WA Labor led the Liberal­-Nationals government 52 per cent to 48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis. It found almost six in 10 voters were dissatisfied with Mr Barnett's performance and the Liberal Party's primary vote was languishing at 33 per cent, down from 47 per cent at the last WA election. The WA Senate election re-run in April last year was billed as an early test of the Abbott government's performance. Its three WA senators were re-elected, consolidating the Coalition's position. The re-election was brought on after 1370 votes went missing during a recount at the 2013 election.



Federal Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan unsuccessfully challenged Mr Randall in Canning at the 2010 election, before winning the seat of Perth at the last election. She said people were "in a state of shock" over Mr Randall's death.

Asked about Labor's prospects at a byelection, Ms MacTiernan said voters were frustrated by the government's response to the mining downturn in Western Australia. "The sense of concern about the lack of jobs is huge and I don't think people are buying the view that [Mr] Abbott has got a solution," she said. Ms MacTiernan said her 2010 campaign was hampered by the introduction of the mining tax and Labor's leadership instability. She said Labor campaigned only "lightly" in Canning in 2013 - instead focusing on retaining existing seats and an unsuccessful attempt to win the seat of Hasluck. "It's going to be a very tough seat for Labor to win back … but politics is a very volatile business these days and I would hope we get in there, get a good candidate and really go hard," she said.​

Loading The Canning byelection would be the second in this Parliament, after former prime minister Kevin Rudd retired from Parliament. Labor's Terri Butler won the seat in January last year. Follow us on Twitter