CANDIDATES have been selected for a forthcoming council by-election.

Incumbent East Brighton ward councillor Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who is also MP for Brighton Kemptown, formally resigned yesterday morning triggering the by-election which is expected to be held on February 8,

Labour’s Nancy Platts, the Green Party’s Ed Baker, and 18-year-old Liberal Democrat George Taylor will fight for the seat against a Tory opponent yet to be named.

The election was formally called yesterday morning after Mr Russell-Moyle submitted his letter of resignation to the acting council chief executive.

Procedural rules will allow it to take place on any of the first three Thursdays in February, with February 8 looking likeliest.

At a Labour Party hustings on Thursday evening, former Parliamentary candidate Nancy Platts emerged as her party’s candidate for what is expected to be a safe Labour seat.

The ward’s other two councillors are the council’s leader and his deputy, Councillor Warren Morgan and Councillor Gill Mitchell.

Ms Platts narrowly lost to Simon Kirby in the 2015 Parliamentary election in Kemptown – a constituency which includes the East Brighton ward – and to Caroline Lucas in Pavilion when the Green leader was first elected in 2010.

Mr Russell Moyle described his likely successor as a “fantastic campaigner” and said he would be out on the doorsteps on her behalf.

He said if they elected Ms Platts the residents of East Brighton would have a “fantastic hard-working local councillor”.

After the 2015 election, Ms Platts took a role as Jeremy Corbyn’s trades union and National Executive Committee manager, working with the new leader in London although she continued to live in and commute from Brighton.

She is now self-employed in a social enterprise firm which offers low cost communications support and advice to trades union and charities.

The Liberal Democrats have selected an 18-year-old to fight the seat, who would become the youngest councillor if elected.

A party spokesman said: “George is a local 18-year-old with a passion for politics.

“He has been an active member of the Liberal Democrats since 2016, helping fight nearby council by-elections in Seaford and joining the East Sussex County Council election campaign.”

They said Mr Taylor had recently been working to pressure the city council to provide more affordable homes.

The Green Party will field digital marketer Ed Baker, who said: “As I see food banks appearing across Brighton and Hove, and the number of rough sleepers doubling in a year, I feel it’s time to step up for my local community.”

A Conservative Party spokesman said that interest in the seat had been “amazing” since Mr Russell-Moyle’s initial announcement in the summer, with a further “flurry” of applications received in recent weeks.

With Ms Platts representing more left-leaning politics than Cllrs Morgan or Mitchell, some Conservatives believe it may be possible to cause an electoral upset in a staunchly red ward.

Conservative selection panels will be held next week.