LABOUR’S parliamentary candidate for Bournemouth East has resigned his seat as a councillor in Oxford. 

Tom Hayes, who will be up against Conservative Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood at the next general election, served as a councillor in the St Clement’s ward for 10 years. 

Mr Hayes has come under fire in his old stomping ground in recent time for his time spent in Bournemouth. The county council’s highways chief Andrew Gant said he had "basically moved out".

When asked why Mr Hayes had chosen this time to resign, a Labour spokesman said: "He needs to be in a position to focus more of his time on Bournemouth. 

"It is a balance of continuity – he’s stayed as a councillor as long as possible. 

"He does it with our blessing and we all move on." 

Bournemouth Echo: Tom HayesTom Hayes (Image: BCP Conservatives)

Mr Hayes also came under during last year’s BCP Council elections, when he appeared to be caught removing a Green party election leaflet from a resident’s postbox. 

Doorbell footage shows the candidate ‘swapping’ the literature with a Labour leaflet. 

Oxford City Council leader Susan Brown said: "Tom has been a hard-working councillor and a passionate advocate of a green agenda designed to improve the health of our city and making it a cleaner and more pleasant place to live. 

"He led the creation of the first Citizen’s Assembly on Climate Change in the UK in 2019 and worked hard with the county council to get the zero emission policies off the ground. 

"During his time in the cabinet, he developed and delivered the public-private partnership which provided Energy Superhub Oxford (ESO), including the world's largest hybrid battery, the UK's largest EV superhub at Redbridge Park and Ride."