A FORMER PLC student and Guyra girl turned fashion editor has become one of the first candidates for a fledgling political party.
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Grace Cobb will throw her hat in the ring for a seat on the Gold Coast representing the 21st Century Australia Party, which was established this month by multimillionaire and former Glen Innes resident Jamie McIntyre.
Mr McIntyre will run for the seat of New England, while Ms Cobb will run for McPherson on the Gold Coast.
The 25-year-old leads a jet-setting lifestyle as the Oceania fashion editor of international television channel Fashion One.
The position has seen her launch a digital magazine, cover fashion weeks and events in Australia and overseas.
Ms Cobb told The Express about her candidacy during a visit to Armidale for the launch of the 21st Century Australia Party.
She said she was confident with the skills she could bring to the political arena.
“Anyone who knows me knows that a long way down the track this is always something I wanted to do, I just never imagined it would be at 25,” she said.
“I have really had this enriching experience of being able to experience everything Australia has to offer in the past year. I never wanted to be pigeoned into fashion.” The 21st Century Australia Party held launches in Armidale, Glen Innes and Tamworth ahead of larger events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Mr McIntyre used the local events to outline a 25-point plan for the country, including the abolition of state governments and compulsory voting, as well as direct referenda by constituents on major policies.
The businessman and motivational speaker has been highly critical of incumbent Member for New England Tony Windsor since he backed Labor following the 2010 election.
Mr McIntyre said he received an enthusiastic response from the public following his decision to enter politics.
Almost 100 people have expressed an interest in running for his party, with a focus on targeting seats held by Labor and the Greens.
But Mr McIntyre disputed claims his party would act as a proxy to direct preferences to the Coalition.
“Who we'll give preferences to has not been decided yet, and that will come down to discussions as it gets closer to the election,” he said.
“But we certainly won't be giving preferences to Labor, the Greens or Tony Windsor.”