YESTERDAY (Thursday 21 April), nominations for next month's 2022 Federal Election officially closed, leaving communities across the Western Plains with eight candidates to choose from for the vast seat of Parkes.

Named in honour of five time-NSW Premier Sir Henry Parkes (sometimes referred to as the 'Father of Federation'), the Parkes electorate is the largest in NSW covering 49% of the state, and one of the largest across Australia in terms of area.

Parkes covers a large part of Unincorporated NSW, as well as several City and Shire Councils across the regions, including the Cobar, Lachlan, Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Walgett, Coonamble, Warren, Narromine, Gilgandra and Warrumbungle Local Government Areas.

The name was first used as the Division of Parkes in the 1901 federal election - covering part of suburban Sydney - before being retired following the 1969 federal election.

It was then brought back for the 1984 federal election as part of an expansion of the House of Representatives where it has remained a safe seat for the National Party ever since.

The electorate has undergone several area changes since its creation in regional NSW, one of the most historically significant being the addition of Broken Hill in 1993 which resulted in the Labor Party coming close to winning the seat.

Broken Hill was later removed from the electorate in the 2007 election before being added again in the 2016 election.

The massive Parkes electorate covers 49% of NSW - but does not include the township of Parkes.

The current Member for Parkes is the National Party's Mark Coulton, who was first elected in 2007 following previous Member John Cobb - also from the Nationals - transferring to the Calare electorate. Mr Coulton has maintained a strong hold on the seat in subsequent federal elections.

During his most recent term, Mr Coulton has held multiple ministerial portfolios - most recently as Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government from 2020–2021 - before losing his portfolios when Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce reclaimed leadership of the Nationals Party in 2021.

Despite this, Mr Coulton has reaffirmed his commitment to the Parkes electorate and will once again stand for the seat on behalf of the Nationals on election day on Saturday 21 May.

Other candidates for the electorate in the 2022 election are Jack Ayoub from the Labor Party, Trish Frail for The Greens, Peter Rothwell from the Liberal Democrats, Petrus Van Der Steen from the United Australia Party, Ben Fox from the Informed Medical Options Party, Derek Hardman from the Indigenous-Aboriginal Party and Stuart Howe who will run as an Independent.

Both Mr Ayoub and Mr Van Der Steen previously ran against Mr Coulton in the 2019 Federal Election.

In terms of candidates, this is the largest number of candidates who have stood for the seat beating the record previously set in 2007 when there were seven candidates.

While the Nationals recorded majorities in 71 of the 81 polling places used in 2019, this election will see new topics for voters to consider, including impacts of major flooding across regional NSW, the 2021 mice plague on the agricultural industry and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic.