Islington Council has announced a by-election for Tollington ward will be held on July 1, following former council leader Richard Watts's resignation as councillor today (May 21).

Mr Watts, who has represented Tollington ward for 15 years and has been council leader for eight years, is due to join Sadiq Khan's "top team" at City Hall on Monday as his deputy chief of staff.

Having announced his intention to stand down after as leader of the council in February, Mr Watts handed over the reins to Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz last night at the council's annual general meeting.

Tollington is one of Islington's 16 electoral divisions, and one of the eight that make up the Islington North constituency, represented by Jeremy Corbyn in Parliament.

Locally the ward is represented by three councillors whose elections are held every four years.

Mr Watts had been re-elected along with Anjna Khurana and Flora Williamson in May 2018.