Resignation sparks by-election battle for Highgate - Labour's Michael Nicolaides quits after just 15 months

His party insisted there was no bad blood with Michael Nicolaides over his decision to resign, even though it sets up a council by-election contest which will prick serious interest among the Conservatives and, perhaps even more so, the Greens.
 

Mr Nicolaides announced on Monday that he was leaving for “personal reasons”, a catch-all term which in this case has been explained privately as increased commitments at work and plans to move out of the borough with his new wife.
 

Mr Nicolaides had been seen as a competent former chairman of licensing and a good candidate locally. He was brought up in Regent’s Park and went to school at William Ellis in Dartmouth Park. He won recognition in the Labour group with previous attempts to get on the council.
 

Recently, colleagues said he had been unable to attend as many meetings as when he was first elected.
 

His departure draws comparisons with the last time the Conservatives enjoyed any sort of representation in Highgate ward, which has an electoral map which peels down from Highgate village and into Dartmouth Park. 
 

Paul Barton resigned in 2008, blaming his private workload for detracting from his ability to be a councillor.

The Conservatives promptly lost the resulting by-election to the Greens. Last May, the ward was split between two Labour members and one Green after boroughwide elections.