EXHIBIT 31.1



CERTIFICATION



I, Anthony C. Weagley, certify that:



1. I have reviewed this Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q of Center Bancorp, Inc.;



2. Based on my knowledge, this report does
not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;



3. Based on my knowledge, the financial
statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition,
results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;



4. The registrant’s other certifying
officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act
Rules 13a-15 (e) and 15d-15 (e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15 (f) and
15d-15 (f)) for the registrant and have:



a) designed such disclosure controls and
procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to me by others within those entities, particularly
during the period on which this report is being prepared;



b) designed such internal control over
financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under my supervision, to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;



c) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and



d) disclosed in this report any change
in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal
quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.



5. The registrant’s other certifying
officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on my most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s
auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing that equivalent functions):



a) all significant deficiencies and material
weakness in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and



b) any fraud, whether or not material,
that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.



|Date: May 9, 2013 | /s/ Anthony C. Weagley               
|----------------- | -------------------------------------
|                  | Anthony C. Weagley                   
|                  | President and Chief Executive Officer