David Parker has ruled himself out of any contest for the Labour leadership, saying he told Labour leader David Cunliffe and his caucus colleagues of that decision yesterday.
Mr Parker has issued a statement clarifying his stance after ongoing speculation about his intentions.
"For the time being, I remain the deputy leader of the Labour Party," Mr Parker said.
"It remains my wish to address the issues arising from our worst election result in 92 years through party and caucus processes, which is why I have not been commenting in the media."
Mr Parker put his name up in 2011 for a short time but withdrew to make way for David Shearer instead, saying that decision was partly for personal reasons.