Merome Beard is an Australian politician who represented the

electoral district of North West Central North West Central was an Electoral districts of Western Australia, electoral district of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 2005 to 2025. The district was mostly ...

in the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

from 17 September 2022 to 8 March 2025. She was elected as a member of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

, but she resigned from the party on 31 October 2023 and joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. She contested the

electoral district of Mid-West Mid-West is an Electoral districts of Western Australia, electoral district of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The seat was created at the 2023 Redistribution (Australia), redistribution as the successor to the large but lowly popul ...

at the 2025 state election, but was defeated by Nationals leader

Shane Love Ronald Shane Love (born 30 August 1961) is an Australian politician. He is the member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Moore, representing the National Party of Australia (WA) and is a former leader of the opposition of W ...

Early life and career

Beard is a great-great-granddaughter of Sir

Thomas Cockburn-Campbell Sir Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, 4th Baronet (18 April 1845 – 27 September 1892) was an English-born journalist and politician in Australia. __NOTOC__ Early life Cockburn-Campbell was born in Exeter, the second son of Sir Alexander Thomas Cock ...

, the first president of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative A ...

in 1890. She competed as a rower at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

and went to the 1994 World Championships. Beard and her husband have owned and ran the Port Hotel in Carnarvon for over twenty years.

Political career

In late June 2022, Beard was selected by the

to contest the

2022 North West Central state by-election A by-election for the electoral district of North West Central in Western Australia took place on 17 September 2022 following the resignation of the sitting member, National Party of Australia (WA), Nationals MP Vince Catania, on 8 August 2022. ...

for them, after incumbent member Vince Catania announced his plans to retire. Her main competitor was

candidate Will Baston, with the Labor Party not fielding a candidate. Beard won the by-election, which took place on 17 September 2022. On 31 October 2023, Beard resigned from the National Party and joined the

, which would put the National and Liberal parties at three seats each in the Legislative Assembly, previously the Nationals had four while the Liberals had two. She claimed the defection was about her "constituents" and not because she wanted to remain in Parliament after her electoral district is abolished. While campaigning in the

2025 Western Australian state election The 2025 Western Australian state election was held on 8 March 2025 to elect members to the Parliament of Western Australia, where all 59 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly and all 37 seats in the Western ...

, her car was stolen and it was used in a ram-raid. She was defeated in the 2025 state election by Nationals leader

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Merome Year of birth missing (living people) 1960s births Living people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian people of English descent People from Carnarvon, Western Australia