BALLARAT mayor Joshua Morris says he was always clear about his political aspirations.
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This is despite ruling out any possibility of becoming a candidate in the 2014 state election to The Courier during an interview at the end of last year.
After being preselected as a Liberal candidate for Western Victoria on Monday night, Cr Morris opened up on his decision on Tuesday afternoon.
"I was always very clear that I did have aspirations to be a politician into the future and this was an opportunity that arose," Cr Morris said.
"I have discussions with many people about this prospect and I thought it was the right time for both myself and my family to represent Western Victoria."
The preselection means Cr Morris is almost a certainty to enter state parliament, listed second on the Liberal ballot behind Ballarat politician Simon Ramsay.
Cr Morris said it was the "right time" to make the jump into state politics and it was the abnormal situation of Aaron Lane's resignation as a candidate that resulted in the decision.
"There was an extraordinary vacancy that we saw with the resignation of a candidate," he said.
"This is not something that I think anybody could have foreseen as a circumstance.
"It is a circumstance where I thought I had something to offer and to offer to the people of Western Victoria and that is why I chose to nominate."
Cr Morris sits on the Liberal Administrative Committee, the same committee who made the decision on who would replace Mr Lane.
Cr Morris said he wasn't asked by anyone to take up the vacant position.
"My decision to nominate was my decision alone," he said.