The contest to win the Liberal nomination for the blue-ribbon seat of Curtin is shaping up as a proxy-fight between former foreign minister Julie Bishop, who will vacate the seat at the next election, and WA factional colleagues who did not vote for her last year when she ran to be Prime Minister.

Nominations closed for the March 10 preselection ballot on Friday, revealing a field of four women and a man.

Erin Watson-Lynn and Ceclia Hammond will be head-to-head in next Sunday's Liberal preselection for the safe seat of Curtin. Credit:Nine Publishing

It is understood Ms Bishop and a coterie of Curtin supporters are backing 33-year-old academic Erin Watson-Lynn, who recently returned to Perth after a decade in Melbourne to be head of programs at UWA's Perth USAsia Centre.

But senior WA Liberals – including some who did not vote for Ms Bishop in last year's leadership contest – have thrown their support behind 50-year-old lawyer and former University of Notre Dame vice-chancellor Celia Hammond.