CHRISTIAN Porter’s “stellar” performance at last Sunday’s WA Liberal Party’s State election campaign launch has got people talking.

And the talk isn’t just about his seemingly new role as Liberal Party bad boy after referring to premier wannabe Mark McGowan as a “junior, sweaty navy lawyer”.

The talk is about whether Porter, who according to several Liberals has a burning ambition to be prime minister, will be an unintended casualty of a WA election loss by the man he once called boss — Colin Barnett.

Camera Icon Credit: PerthNow

The Liberals are expecting a very bad election result in areas such as Swan Hills.

And that leaves Porter exposed, because he holds the Federal seat of Pearce.

Ironically, when Porter abandoned the WA Liberals to pursue his dreams in Canberra in 2012, Pearce was a safe Liberal seat.

As expected, Porter won Pearce in a canter at the 2013 Federal election when Tony Abbott swept to power before being dumped to make way for Malcolm Turnbull.

But at last year’s Federal poll, Porter got the fright of his life when a cushy near-10 per cent margin was cut to about 3 per cent.

To state the obvious, Porter cannot become PM if he loses his seat at the 2019 Federal poll.

So, he faces several options in the name of political survival:

Go back to State politics — very, very unlikely;

Spend more time in Pearce — very, very hard to do when you are a Federal minister with lofty ambitions;

Run for the Senate — very, very unlikely because prime ministers come from the House of Representatives; and

Look for another Lower House seat.

And this is where it gets interesting.

In-the-know Liberals told me this week I should keep an eye on Julie Bishop’s career over the next few years as this may provide a lifeline for Porter. It’s been suggested that should Malcolm Turnbull need to be politically castrated, Bishop would most likely be the one to replace him as PM.

But mostly, the talk is that if Bill Shorten gets his own harbourside mansion, courtesy of the Australian taxpayer in 2019, Bishop will call an end to her illustrious career in Federal politics.

Timing is everything in politics, and if Bishop pulls the pin at the 2019 election in Curtin — one of the safest Liberal seats in Australia — Porter could well be in line for a change of electorate.

Christian Porter has form in making decisions in the best interests of himself.

Who would normally resign as WA Treasurer during a first term of government to pursue a career in Canberra?

Porter argued in 2012 that he was leaving State politics, after just four years with Colin Barnett’s Liberals, because he felt he could make a greater contribution at a Federal level.

But Liberals say Porter could see the writing on the wall and felt Barnett would never hand over the leadership of the WA Liberal Party until he lost an election.

That in itself now seems prophetic, with Barnett unwilling to hand over the premiership to either Dean Nalder or Liza Harvey in 2016 when Liberals desperately wanted to make the switch but lacked the courage to take on the likes of powerbrokers Peter Collier and Nick Goiran, or the premier’s office.

No longer has Porter’s career become solely about becoming the PM of Australia.

This is now about political survival.

And a move to Curtin, should Bishop decide that living the dream has had its use-by date, is probably a good move for Porter.

Porter is a polarising character. His obvious intellect and appetite for hard work has seen him rise above others in Canberra, where he now sits in Cabinet.

But there is also a view that Porter loves Porter too much, and that he lacks humility.

As such, not every Liberal will be shedding a tear if Porter’s prime ministerial aspirations are never fulfilled.