RAY Williams is unassailable in his Hawkesbury electorate, with six Liberal Party branches 100 per cent behind him.

But that doesn't mean the personable MP is tolerant of rivals.

As a loyal disciple of Liberal ``soft right'' king-maker, Alex Hawke the federal MP for Mitchell, Mr Williams is up to his armpits in the bitter stoush between Mr Hawke and his former boss, David Clarke, MLC, leader of the Christian hard right.

The two former friends are at war to control preselection in the north-west and beyond.

The row began 18 months ago and many insiders fear it has the potential to split the Liberal Party and deny it government in the March 2011 state election.

In August, Keith Topolski, the soft right president of the Blacktown Young Liberals since 2005 and member of the NSW Young Liberals' state executive, was removed from his roles.

In a bitter letter to Liberals in the region, which the News has obtained, he later accused Patrick Conolly and his father Kevin Conolly (a Hawkesbury councillor and would-be MP for Riverstone, the seat of retiring Labor MP John Aquilina) of orchestrating the stack ``with the full backing and assistance of Charles Perrottet'', a David Clarke staffer.

``This followed a campaign of many months orchestrated from within David Clarke's office to target members not viewed as `factional' enough (read Christian enough). I have been one of the many victims,'' the letter stated.

Charles Perrottet is one of 12 siblings who include Dominic Perrottet, who worked with Alex Hawke for a decade but has defected to Clarke.

Dominic is the hard right's choice for preselection to the seat of Castle Hill, held by Michael Richardson, who was dumped as Opposition spokesman on the environment last year.

Retaliation from the Hawke camp came soon enough in the Ray Williams-controlled Beaumont Hills branch, where Charles Perrottet has been president since 2005.

He was removed from his roles recently by a vote of 21-8.

As one insider said of the blood-letting: ``Charles was just collateral damage in the tit-for-tat war between Hawke and Clarke. Hawke is seeking to control everything but Clarke is hanging on grimly.''