By BELLE MONT, our Sutton Council correspondent

Time to go: Sheila Berry has resigned as a councillor in Sutton

Sheila Berry, one of just three Labour councillors in Sutton, has resigned from the council.

Berry was elected in St Helier West ward in May 2022, one of the first three Labour councillors elected in Sutton for almost 20 years. She was appointed the deputy leader of the Labour “group” on Sutton Council.

She had previously served as the Mayor of Epsom and Ewell.

At the time of publication, there had been no official announcement of the resignation from Sutton Council, and neither Councillor Berry nor her group leader, Sheldon Vestey, had responded to enquiries by Inside Sutton.

The by-election is expected to be held on May 2, the same day as the London Mayor and GLA elections.

St Helier West ward, in the Carshalton and Wallington constituency held by Tory Elliot Colburn, has three councillors. Berry broke the Tory stranglehold, and was elected alongside Conservatives Steve Alvarez and Wendy Clark.

St Helier West remains one of the most marginal wards in the borough, and a three-way marginal with the LibDems.

Inside Sutton understands that health issues persuaded Berry to resign. But there have also been rumblings of disaffection within the small Labour group.

Berry has one of the lowest attendance rates for councillors at meetings, at 73%. Vestey has attended 69% of his expected council meetings.

The by-election will be the first test for Sutton’s LibDems since Ruth Dombey announced she will step down as council leader, to be replaced by failed businessman Barry “Biggles” Lewis.

The status of St Helier Hospital, which is in the ward, will be the focus for the LibDems and its prospective parliamentary candidate Bobby Dean. A Green candidate stood in 2022, and there are already rumours that a rebel former Labour member will stand as an independent candidate.

Read more: LibDems pick failed businessman Biggles as new Sutton leader
Read more: Council hired ‘Real’ builders and dodged Grenfell grants ban
Read more: Sutton’s Simpson show can’t account for £2m SDEN subsidy

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