Voters in Portslade are going to the polls today in a council by-election after the sudden resignation of their long-serving councillor.

Residents in South Portslade are picking a new councillor for Brighton and Hove City Council after Labour's Les Hamilton resigned in November last year.

Mr Hamilton, who had served the area for more than 50 years on three different councils, said: “Age has now caught up with me and tells me it’s time to slow down and give up being a councillor.

“It has been a tremendous honour to be able to make a difference for local people.”

The by-election comes amid controversy over plans by the Labour administration to close St Peter’s Community Primary and Nursery School, which is in the ward, from August 2024.

Parents at the school have campaigned against the proposed closure of the school, which first opened in 1906, claiming pupils with special educational needs may find the prospect of leaving their “secure and nurturing environment… traumatic”.

However, the council has said the proposal was “not made lightly” and reflects “the significant demographic changes in the city and consequent crisis in school funding and viability”.

Seven candidates are running in the election: 

Labour currently holds a comfortable majority on Brighton and Hove City Council with 35 councillors. The Green Party has seven councillors, the Conservatives have six and the Brighton and Hove Independents have two.

There are also three independent councillors - Peter Atkinson in North Portslade, Bharti Gajjar in Kemp Town and Chandni Mistry in Queen’s Park.

Residents hoping to vote at a polling station must take a form of photo identification, such as a passport, EU identity card, blue badge, older person’s bus pass, or a voter authority certificate.

Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm, with votes set to be counted and a result announced tomorrow.