Nine names to know before the federal election campaign Ben Morton, WA Liberal party state director. KEVIN Rudd and Tony Abbott will be the headline acts of the federal election campaign. But as political editor Joe Spagnolo reports, the names of other political players will also be of interest to West Australians this poll: 1: ALANNAH MacTIERNAN, Labor candidate for Perth MacTiernan is the Labor candidate for Perth and will face Liberal candidate Darryl Moore. Because of her high profile, the politically savvy MacTiernan will make sure she gets lots of press during the election. Moore thought he had a great chance of winning Perth from Labor, but celebrations turned sour when MacTiernan decided to run for the seat that has been vacated by Stephen Smith. 2: BEN MORTON, WA Liberal Party director Morton is the state director of the WA Liberal Party and the driving force of the Coalition campaign in WA. He is the golden boy of the WA Liberals, having guided them to two state election victories. Morton will try and be a back room player during the election, but will play a major role. 3: SIMON MEAD, WA Labor Party state secretary Like Morton, Mead is a major player in the election campaign here in WA. Traditionally, Labor has run its WA campaign predominately out of Canberra. But this time around the resources of the WA Labor Party could well be better utilised. 4: MATHIAS CORMANN, WA Liberal Senator Cormann is a pivotal part of this election campaign for the Liberals. As a WA Senator he will be advising what strategies and policies to implement this election. Cormann will also be a willing vocal opponent of Rudd's WA policies. Smith is helping Alannah MacTiernan contest Perth. But as the nation's defence minister and former foreign affairs minister, Smith will be an important and vocal voice for Rudd in WA during the election. 6: JULIE BISHOP, Liberal deputy leader Like Cormann, Bishop is critical to Abbott winning seats in WA. Her profile will be used by the Liberals to win votes and she too will be part of the strategic planning for the election. 7: CLIVE PALMER, founder of Palmer United Party. Palmer tried to recruit Eagle great Glen Jakovich to run for the party in WA. Jakovich turned him down, but former Fremantle Dockers player Des Hedland agreed to run in the geographically massive seat of Durack. The self-proclaimed billionaire and his party should provide some interesting moments during the campaign. 8: EAMONN FITZPATRICK, senior media adviser to Kevin Rudd Fitzpatrick is a key strategist and knows the WA political landscape backwards. Labor will rely on Fitzpatrick to give important intelligence on WA during the campaign. Has been brought in on several WA campaigns, prior to joining the PM's office. Was in WA during the 2005 and 2008 state elections. 9: JULIAN ASSANGE, WikiLeaks publisher running for the senate No WA link, but worth keeping an eye on. WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange is confident of winning a Senate seat despite living in exile on the other side of the world. He says that if elected to the senate, he and WikiLeaks Party will press for stronger safeguards for personal privacy against surveillance by security agencies. Not a West Australian by any means, but worth watching during the election.