Former city councillor Alex Cullen is looking to return to public life.

Cullen plans to seek the nomination to run as the NDP candidate in Ottawa Centre in the next provincial election. He currently works as an aide to Toronto NDP MP Mike Sullivan.

Cullen lost his seat in the Bay Ward in the 2010 election, a seat he had held since 2001. In 2010, Cullen announced a bid to run for mayor. He later cancelled that campaign and decided to run again in the Bay Ward, but his expected departure had drawn a number of notable candidates. He came second to current councillor Mark Taylor.

A date has yet to be set for the NDP to hold a nomination meeting. Meanwhile the provincial Liberals are set to pick a leader at the end of January to succeed Dalton McGuinty after the premier declared his resignation back in October. It's expected the winner will either call an election or declare the Liberal minority government defeated by a joint effort from the Progressive Conservatives and NDP.

Liberal Yasir Naqvi currently holds the Ottawa Centre riding. Other candidates have already been selected by their respective parties with Rob Dekker running for the Tories and Kevin O'Donnell for the Greens.