A GREEN candidate for next year's local elections has announced they will no longer run and has resigned from the party.

Tom Pashby, who had been named as a candidate for the Regency ward for next year's elections in Brighton and Hove, made the surprise announcement on Twitter earlier this afternoon.

Tom gave no reason for the decision and said there would be no further comment at this stage.

The Argus: Tom Pashby announced they were quitting the Green Party in a post on TwitterTom Pashby announced they were quitting the Green Party in a post on Twitter

The news comes after former Green candidate Steve Moses said he could not support Tom's candidature after their involvement in a campaign calling for Professor Kathleen Stock to resign from her post at the University of Sussex.

A former professor of philosophy at the university, Professor Stock had faced calls to be removed from her post following accusations of transphobia.

Mr Moses said that Tom had said they were not critical of any of the tactics used in the campaign, which were described by Mr Moses as "intimidation and harassment".

In a post on Twitter, he said: "I won’t support a Green Party candidate who was [the] spokesperson for a campaign of harassment and intimidation against a woman whose only crime was to speak up for women’s rights."

Speaking to The Argus, Mr Moses questioned whether Tom would be suitable to represent the ward.

"I don't think that someone who felt it was OK to take such action in a campaign that was described as intimidation and harassment by the university themselves could be a representative of a party that stands for peace and justice and freedom of speech," he said.

Tom had stood for election to Parliament for the Green Party in South West Hertfordshire at the last general election.

The Brighton and Hove Green Party has been contacted for comment.

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