McKay returns to politics in Strathfield

Despite being the centre of a smear campaign to unseat her, former Labor parliamentarian Jodi McKay has regained her hunger for state politics.

Opposition Leader John Robertson has intervened to ensure she will be the Labor Party's candidate for the seat of Strathfield in Sydney's inner west.

"I've got the hunger back and I am convinced that the party has done whatever needs to be done to ensure that what happened in Newcastle, never happens again," Ms McKay told Fairfax Media on Friday.

Ms McKay lost the seat of Newcastle to the Liberal Party's Tim Owen in the 2011 state election.

In August Mr Owen resigned after admitting misleading the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over donations he received from a property developer.

It's been a challenging year for Ms Mckay, who also had to listen to Labor powerbrokers admitting to ICAC that they funded a smear campaign against her.

Ms McKay had opposed a proposed Newcastle coal-loader that would have been worth a fortune to Nathan Tinkler's Buildev.

"But I've come out of that much stronger," Ms McKay told ABC Radio on Friday.

Mr Robertson said with less than six months to go until the state election, he chose to act.

"I would have liked to have seen a community pre-selection but Strathfield is a seat that we need to win.

"I want a good candidate - Jodi McKay is the perfect candidate for Labor to be running in the March 2015 election," he told ABC Radio.

He said recent ICAC hearings proved Ms McKay to be a person of the highest integrity and the strongest character.