King's Lynn councillor resigns four weeks after election victory

A Lynn councillor has resigned from his county role - just weeks after being re-elected.

Thomas Smith says new employment commitments in London mean he can no longer fulfil his role as a councillor and he had "no other honourable choice" but to stand down.

A by-election will now take place in due course to determine his successor.

The news comes just four weeks after Mr Smith, a Conservative, won a second term as county councillor for the Gaywood South division at the local elections.

In a statement posted on Facebook, he said: "I really couldn't have seen the amount of change that has come into my life even a few weeks ago when we were all campaigning.

"The flip side to having a job I'm really excited about in London is not being able to continue as a councillor.

"There are a lot of reasons why it wouldn't work, but I am fortunate to be in a position where I am leaving with folk sad to lose me rather than cheering I'm gone.

"I shall be sad to miss so many of the things I worked on being completed, but I have been fortunate in that my colleagues have been in agreement with me on so many things, regardless of party politics."

In a series of Twitter posts, he added that it had been "an honour" to serve the area where he grew up. He was also a borough councillor between 2015 and 2019.

He wrote: "I am leaving the county soon so I had no other honourable choice. The timing was such it has been a great shock to me too, but I would rather trigger a by-election than let the residents of Gaywood South down by inadequacy."

No date has yet been announced for the by-election. One county contest is already due to take place on June 17, after the election in the Sewell division was postponed following the death of Conservative candidate Evelyn Collishaw.