Will Prince says his job situation has changed

A LABOUR councillor is standing down from the Town Hall – less than a year after being elected in one of the borough’s contested wards.

Will Prince confirmed last night (Wednesday) that he is giving up his seat in South Hampstead, citing changes to his day job.

He said: “It is with a heavy heart that I am resigning as a local councillor. I am moving away from the UK for the next chapter of my job and, as a result, I will no longer be able to fulfil my duties to the residents of South Hampstead.

“I will formalise my resignation later this week. During my time in office, I have strived to serve the residents of South Hampstead to the best of my ability.

“Whether through supporting residents on the ground during the flooding last December on Belsize Road and assisting those whose lives were turned upside down overnight, or through raising residents’ concerns about the O2 Centre development from my position on the planning committee, I have always tried to put the needs of the community first.”

During his short time in office, the New Journal’s Peeps column christened him the
‘Fresh Prince of South Hampstead’ because of his alternative approach to council attire – with a collection of trendy trainers and appearing at meetings in England football shirts.

His resignation tees up a by-election in an area where debate over the scale of the planned O2 Centre redevelopment has raged on due to hundreds of objections.

While all other Labour councillors sitting on the planning committee voted for the project earlier this month, Cllr Prince had cast a vote against approving it.

Last May, Cllr Prince was among three Labour councillors to win in the South Hampstead ward, the closest thing to what had been the patch previously known as Swiss Cottage and until 2018 held by the Tories.

Izzy Lenga and Nina de Ayala Parker were the other Labour victors in the ward, who Cllr Prince said were “fantastic champions for South Hampstead”.

Will Prince after winning his seat on the council last May, with South Hampstead councillors Izzy Lenga and Nina de Ayala Parker

Labour has ended up with 46 of the 55 seats in the council chamber, meaning a by-election will not change who runs the Town Hall.

But the Tories and the Liberal Democrats will see the contest as an opportunity to test the strength of feeling over the council’s handling of the O2 Centre scheme and the level of support they may have to build for future elections.

Council leader Councillor Georgia Gould said she was “very sad” to lose Cllr Prince but understood that people’s circumstances changed.

Of the upcoming by-election, she said her party should be judged on its response to the cost of living crisis, adding: “It’s more important than ever we send a strong message to the Tory government that residents shouldn’t have to choose between heating and eating and we want to see our community supported in tough times.”

Labour’s candidate selection process for the ward had hit the headlines last year when the party blocked left-winger Labour councillor Leo Cassarani from defending the seat after he asked for more scrutiny on Camden’s redevelopment plans for Camley Street in King’s Cross.

Several other existing councillors were told they could not stand again for Labour as new faces – including Cllr Prince – were selected for the elections.

Cllr Prince, however, will become the second councillor in the ruling group to step down less than 12 months into the four-year term.
Another winning candidate, Adrian Cohen, quit just days after winning his seat in the Hampstead Town ward.

He had widely been seen as a “paper candidate” who ended up winning as the Tory vote collapsed during Boris Johnson’s time as prime minister. The Liberal Democrats won the resulting by-election.