Wellington's new mayor Justin Lester and deputy mayor Paul Eagle at the Wellington City Council inauguration in October.

Less than three months after becoming Wellington's deputy mayor, Paul Eagle is eyeing up a seat in Parliament.

Eagle said he was considering calls from Labour Party members to contest Rongotai, the Wellington electorate seat long held by the party's deputy leader, Annette King.

She has announced she will stand as a list-only candidate in the 2017 general election, in the interests of "renewal" and so she can focus on her health portfolio.

MARTY MELVILLE/STUFF Labour's Rongotai MP Annette King will not run in the seat in 2017.

Eagle, 44, was appointed Wellington deputy mayor when Justin Lester won the mayoralty in October.

"I'm honoured to be asked whether I will put my name forward and I'm talking about it further with my family, the party leadership and members," Eagle said on Sunday.

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Supplied Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle is considering running for Parliament in the Rongotai seat.

If he did contest Rongotai, he would stay on as deputy mayor – though he may drop some portfolios – but said there would be "a resignation immediately" if he won the seat.

Eagle lives in Island Bay and was raised in Wellington's eastern and southern suburbs.

Labour leader Andrew Little, who lives near Eagle in Island Bay, previously said he was considering running in Rongotai but had not made a final decision.

MAARTEN HOLL/FAIRFAX NZ Labour leader Andrew Little may also contest the Rongotai seat but has not committed to it.

A source within Labour said that the replacement of John Key, the MP for Helensville, with list MP Bill English as prime minister was a game-changer for Labour.

There was now less pressure on Little to contest an electorate as National's leader was also without one, the source said.

Eagle said he had not decided whether he would contest the seat if Little also put his name forward. "I'm sure we would have a conversation about it," he said.

CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ Rongotai Labour MP Annette King with Labour Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle at Newtown's Owen St flats in 2014.

King, who by next year's election will have been a member of Parliament for 24 years, would contest the 2017 general election on the party list and would focus on her health portfolio.

But the main reason she was stepping down from the electorate was "it is time for a generation shift, a renewal".

Rongotai, especially the Island Bay area, had long been a Labour stronghold.

She was not backing any candidate for the seat.

While King got more than twice the candidate votes of her National rival Chris Finlayson in 2014 – 18,840 to 9223 – National got 852 more party votes.

King believedNational won the party vote because Labour lost many to the Green Party, which came a close-run third, but she believed Labour could win them back in 2017.

If Eagle won Rongotai, Lester would have to find a new deputy.

It is understood three senior councillors would probably be in the running: Iona Pannett, Simon Marsh, and Andy Foster.

Lester would not name a potential successor but said there were "several candidates with good credentials" who could fill the position.

However, there was "a lot of water to flow under the bridge" before he would have to appoint a new deputy. Eagle – who would be an "excellent candidate" for Rongotai – first had to win his party's nomination, then would face a "hard-fought" election to secure the seat.

Lester praised Eagle's work as deputy mayor.

Eagle described Rongotai as an "Annette King seat" as opposed to a safe Labour seat, because the party vote in 2014 between Labour, National, and the Greens was so close.

"Annette has been a leading light in the Labour movement for four and a half decades and a tireless worker for diverse communities that make up the electorate. Her contribution has been immense."