Former TV presenter and deputy mayor of the Hills Shire Yvonne Keane is popular within the Liberals. Credit:Isabella Lettini A closed meeting of the party's all-powerful state executive has voted against allowing the only branch not controlled by Cr Diaz to reconvene in time for the pre-selection vote. That leaves three branches left to cast their votes, all controlled by the Filipino powerbroker, who thumbed his nose at a concerted push from then leader Tony Abbott to pick any number of candidates other than his son in 2013. "Who knows what [he] is cooking this time," said one party source. At least one powerbroker in the centre-right faction of the party to which Cr Diaz aligns has been said to be talking up the electability of Cr Diaz's younger son, Jayson, who managed his brother's campaign.

Blacktown councillor Jess Diaz. But it seems unlikely the powerbroker could be blind to the negative associations with the family name after Jaymes' candidacy. Cr Diaz has not responded to questions from Fairfax. The near-unanimous favourite within the party is former TV presenter and deputy mayor of the Hills Shire, Yvonne Keane. Cr Keane has the backing of senior factional figures, but is not close to the Diazes and her support from the local political family may not be guaranteed. She aborted a previous run for the seat after it became apparent that Jaymes had the nomination sewn up in advance. She declined to comment for this story.

"If [Jess] supports her, you'd expect [he] might get something in return," said one source. Cr Diaz is known to have previously pushed Erlinda Santos, a fellow Filipino. Much was made of Jaymes' chance to become the first Filipino-Australian federal MP in 2013. Jess' hand has only been strengthened after the party bosses who make up its state executive declined to enact an order from its appeals committee to reopen a large branch in the seat filled with Cr Diaz's opponents. The party's Riverstone branch has about 300 members loyal to conservative local MP Kevin Conolly and is perhaps the largest in NSW and therefore likely to have influence in a preselection. (The branch was under threat of closure after its president sided with Cr Diaz in a dispute and refused to convene any meetings, placing it in line to be automatically dissolved for being inactive).

The Liberals' appeals committee ruled this week that the branch should be rescued and forced to holding a meeting. But instead of enacting that ruling, a meeting of the party's top bosses and factional representatives voted instead to send in president Trent Zimmerman to "mediate" the dispute for an unspecified period. That's a fig leaf, some aggrieved sources say, to keep the branch closed just long enough for the preselection to run its course. Mr Conolly declined to comment. Labor's Michelle Rowland holds the seat 53-47 after winning a swing against Jaymes Diaz and beating him a second election in a row. But, like much of Sydney's west, it is an area thought to be becoming increasingly Liberal with demographic change.