Now, the man whose future rests on the answer to that question has also called for clarity.

Incumbent MP Stephen Jones told the Mercury he was fed up with the speculation and uncertainty over who would stand for Labor in Throsby at the September federal election and has called on the party's officials to get their act together.

Mr Jones confirmed he had written to NSW Labor secretary Sam Dastyari asking for the party to call a rank-and-file preselection "as a matter of urgency".

In the letter, sighted by the Mercury, Mr Jones said the speculation surrounding the preselection, or in this case the absence of one so far, was impeding the party's ability to effectively campaign for re-election.

Throsby is one of only two ALP seats in NSW yet to preselect its candidate for the upcoming election.

There has been much speculation that Mr Jones will be automatically appointed by the party's head office, as was the case in 2010 when he replaced retiring MP Jennie George.

Such a move is likely to anger rank-and-file members as it would remove their chance to choose the party's candidate.

However, Mr Jones yesterday said he would welcome a preselection race and believed he had the numbers to win.

Wollongong nurse John Rumble, son of former Illawarra (now the seat of Shellharbour) MP Terry Rumble, intends to stand against Mr Jones if a preselection is called.

Both men come from opposing factions within the party, Mr Jones from the Left and Mr Rumble from the Right.

Mr Dastyari did not return calls from the Mercury yesterday.

Meantime, the National Party's Throsby candidate, Nick Cleary, has pulled out of the federal election race, citing personal and family reasons.

State chairman Niall Blair said it was not an ideal situation for the party. However, members understood Mr Cleary had his reasons for pulling out.

He said the party would meet next week to begin the process of electing a new candidate.