Tauranga City councillor Clayton Mitchell believes he can be a councillor and a member of parliament and says he will give up his councillor's salary if elected.

Clayton is responding to claims from Prime Minister John Key he would be unable to do both jobs if elected in the general election in September.

SunLive caught up with Clayton at New Zealand First's 21st birthday celebrations at the Tauranga Senior Citizens Club.

Earlier this month, Clayton put his hand in the ring to be a New Zealand First Candidate, nine months after being elected a Tauranga City Councillor.

During his visit in Tauranga yesterday, John Key said he believed Clayton could not do his job as a councillor if he was to become a member of parliament.

Since the announcement two weeks ago, Clayton has faced criticism and he wants to dispel rumours that he would be double dipping by publicly announcing he would give up his $70,000 councillor salary.

"John Key is the leader of the opposition and he will do anything for me not to get this position so I take what he says with a grain of salt," says Clayton speaking to SunLive today.

"The people I take seriously are the ones in this area, the ones who voted me in as councillor."

Clayton feels it's his duty to stand up for the people of Tauranga in getting something done for the city "like getting Route K off the books".

"If the people of my ward feel I am not doing a good job, then I will stand down."

See more of what Clayton has to say by watching SunLive's interview with him above.