Auckland councillor Cameron Brewer is not ruling out standing for the Auckland mayoralty.
Mr Brewer today said he did not plan to stand at this stage but had always said he would consider it if he had a well-resourced group who wanted him to contest the job.
After a source told the Herald that Mr Brewer is planning a bid, he said: "Not at this stage and as I've always said very unlikely".
"Another centre-right candidate would only help Mr Goff at this stage. No one really knows how the numbers are looking for all the candidates, so once we see some credible polls that will give everyone a sense of where this is heading.
"As you know it's a quiet time two months out from nominations opening and the hoardings going up, and so some people are probably looking around and running their own theories," he said.