Former Sheffield Council leader Tom Hunt has confirmed he will not contest the forthcoming Walkley by-election. The vacancy follows Green councillor Andy Davies’s resignation, and Hunt’s decision means Labour will select another candidate to try to regain the seat it narrowly lost in May.

Davies defeated Hunt by 73 votes in the 7 May local elections, ending Hunt’s time as both a councillor and council leader. Davies said he was stepping down for mental-health and personal reasons, triggering another contest in a ward where the result was among Sheffield’s closest.