The Liberal Party has disendorsed Ben Britton as its candiate for Whitlam at the federal election over controversial comments he made on a podcast.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton removed Britton on Sunday from the race for the South Coast electorate which covers Shellharbour, Dapto and the Southern Highlands.

Earlier in the week, the National Party candidate, Katrina Hodgkinson, pulled out of the race.

The Disability Trust chief executive officer Carol Berry is the favourite to win the seat after she was chosen by the Labor Party to replace retiring MP Stephen Jones.

Britton created unwanted attention for the Coalition when it was revealed that he blamed “diversity and equity quotas, Marxist ideology and woke ideologies” for detracting from Australia's armed forces and claimed “if we’re to fix our defence force, unfortunately, they’re going to need to remove females from combat corps”.

He had previously unsuccessfully contested the 2022 election for the United Australia Party.

Britton also claimed exposure to pornography leads to gender dysphoria and "transgender desires", that Labor was deliberately keeping some electorates poor to inrease their chances of election success and that Australia should adopt a flat tax rate like the Isle of Man to attract billionaires.

Former member for Wollondilly, Nathaniel Smith, has been parachuted in by the Liberals to stand for Whitlam less than a month before the electorate votes on May 3.

The Administrative Committee of the NSW Division of the Liberal Party met on Sunday and decided to remove Britton as its endorsed candidate.

“This follows a decision to disendorse Benjamin Britton over views expressed which were not previously disclosed and are inconsistent with the party’s position," according to a Liberal Party statement.

“Nathaniel is raising his two daughters with his wife Christine in the Southern Highlands. He is the chief executive of the Master Plumbers Association of NSW, providing a strong voice for the plumbing industry, and working to deliver a better deal for small and family businesses.

“Starting his career as an apprentice plumber, going on to run his own plumbing business, before taking up tertiary studies in communications and joining a communication consultancy. In 2019 he was elected as the Member for Wollondilly, serving until 2023.

“Nathaniel has been a passionate advocate for small businesses and investment in trades and training.

“As part of Peter Dutton’s Liberal team, Nathaniel will help deliver the Liberal plan to strengthen our economy and reduce inflation.”