On 22 August 2013 Shearer announced his resignation as party leader, explaining, "My sense is I no longer have the full confidence of many of my caucus colleagues".

[8] At a news conference later that day, MP for New Lynn David Cunliffe, declared he would contest the leadership as well.

A TVNZ Colmar Brunton poll published on 25 August found David Cunliffe led the potential contenders with 29% of the popular vote and 32% of Labour Party members, followed by Jacinda Ardern on 15%, Shane Jones on 11%, Grant Robertson on 10% and Andrew Little on 9%.

[10] A Research Now poll released by 3 News on 6 September among the public returned 39.6% support for Cunliffe, 31.6% for Jones and 28.8% for Robertson.

[11] On 8 September TVNZ published a poll which asked which candidate respondents thought would be most likely to lead the Labour Party at the 2014 election.