A by-election has been called after a Newcastle councillor stepped down for health reasons.
Stephen Sheraton, a Labour councillor in Byker, has resigned with immediate effect due to ill health, the city council has confirmed. He had sat on the council since May 2021, when he won the seat vacated after the death of long-serving councillor George Allison.
Voters in the Byker ward will go to the polls to select a new councillor in a by-election on Thursday, March 2.
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A council spokesperson said: “Coun Stephen Sheraton, member for the Byker ward, has resigned with immediate effect due to ill health. A Notice of Vacancy has been published on the council’s website and a by-election will be held in the coming weeks.”
The by-election comes two months before this year’s local elections are held. A third of the council’s seats, one for each of the 26 wards, will be up for grabs on May 4.
Following Coun Sheraton’s resignation, the ruling Labour Party now holds 50 seats on the council. The Liberal Democrats are the main opposition with 21 seats, the Newcastle Independents party has three, and there are another three independent councillors.
Byker is a Labour stronghold and is the ward represented by city council leader Nick Kemp.
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