Credlin offered seats but chose backroom

Tony Abbott's former chief of staff, Peta Credlin, says she was offered seats in parliament but didn't want to kowtow to "nameless nobody" branch officials to gain and hold preselection.

She said she didn't think her skin would be thick enough to cope with being a public figure.

"At various stages, I have been offered seats, I have been warned off seats, I have been told to wait my time in the queue behind some important bloke," she told Sky News.

Ms Credlin said she deliberately chose to work at a backroom job where her merits would be rewarded.

"I didn't think that I wanted to kowtow to some nameless nobody in a branch in order to get pre-selected and God forbid have to kowtow my whole time in parliament to hold onto it," she said.