Last month’s preselection did not go ahead after nominees withdrew, but Western NSW parliamentary secretary Rick Colless said negotiations were still under way.

“There will be someone and we will be competitive,” he said.

In early October Yvette Quinn resigned as The Nationals candidate for the Orange electorate.

In a statement released at the time, the party said her resignation was “due to personal circumstances” and had “been reluctantly accepted by the party”.

Later that month the party’s deputy leader Niall Blair said he did not believe a change in candidate would hand the seat to Shooters, Fishers and Farmers incumbent Phil Donato, saying no seat could be taken for granted.

At the same time, Mr Colless said four people had expressed an interest in contesting the seat for the Nationals.