Former South Gloucestershire Council leader Claire Young has stepped down as a ward councillor to concentrate on her work as an MP. The Liberal Democrat’s resignation will trigger a by-election in Frampton Cotterell.
Ms Young overturned a 12,369-vote Conservative majority to oust Luke Hall by more than 3,000 votes in the Thornbury & Yate constituency at July’s general election. She quit as council leader shortly after being elected to Westminster, which she previously said she would do.
Announcing her decision on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, October 15, Ms Young said: “After 17 years, I have decided to step down as Councillor for Frampton Cotterell in order to focus on my work as an MP. It’s been a real honour to represent local people on South Gloucestershire Council – and I look forward to keep fighting for our area in Parliament.”
Council chairman Cllr Franklin Owusu-Antwi (Conservative, Bradley Stoke North) told a meeting of full council on Wednesday evening (October 16): “We have officially received notification of the resignation of Claire Young. As you are all aware, this is going to trigger a by-election, so that’s something we should look forward to.”
No date has been set for the poll but Ms Young, who became council leader after the local elections in May 2023 in a Lib Dem/ Labour coalition administration, has been removed from the list of councillors on the authority’s website. Frampton Cotterell is a large, three-seat ward. Its other two members are Liberal Democrat Cllrs Tristan Clark and Jon Lean.
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In 2023 the Lib Dems received 55 per cent of the vote in the ward, ahead of the Conservatives on 38 per cent, with Green and Labour a distant third and fourth respectively.