Victorian Premier Denis Napthine has refused to back a contest between former Speaker Ken Smith and the man who cost him the speakership, saying locals are interested in the seat of Frankston.
Mr Smith, who stepped down as Speaker on February 4 after falling out of favour with rebel independent MP Geoff Shaw, said he would seek preselection for Mr Shaw's seat of Frankston if his wife lets him.
Dr Napthine said he was looking forward to quality people contesting the seat.
"There are a number of people, I've heard, from Frankston who may be interested in that seat and I'm sure that we will find a very, very good candidate to represent the Liberal Party in the upcoming election," he said.
Mr Smith said he will keep his options open, if his wife agrees.
"Most of my life I've spent on the Mornington Peninsula and I'm thinking `Hey I reckon I could knock him off'," he told Fairfax Radio.
"If Dawn said yes, I would run."
Although initially rejecting the proposition, Dawn Smith said: "I'll keep my options open, I'll think about it."
Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said it was not appropriate for the Liberals to be talking about themselves in a week when an entire industry died in Victoria.
"I don't think plotting revenge in Frankston, or talking amongst yourselves, bickering, fighting amongst yourselves in a dysfunctional chaotic way, that's not the leadership that we need," he said.
Mr Shaw, who holds the balance of power in the parliament, resigned from the parliamentary Liberal Party last March and became an independent.
He has remained a Liberal Party member, but the party is reportedly about to expel him.
Liberal Party preselections for the seat will close on Friday.
