Former Labour MP Shane Jones will announce that he will be standing in the Whangarei electorate for NZ First at the election.
Jones had avoided making any announcement until his three year term as Ambassador for Pacific Economic Development ended in May this year.
Jones was a cabinet minister in the fifth Labour government. He also contested the party's leadership in 2013 but lost to rival David Cunliffe. Jones left parliament in 2014.
The National Party's Dr. Shane Reti is the incumbent in the Whangarei electorate and was elected at the 2014 election.
It's been reported that Reti will find facing Jones a challenge.