VOTERS in the Buckskin suburb of Basingstoke will be going to the polls before Christmas after the shock resignation of one of their borough councillors.

David Potter, who had represented the ward on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for about five years and was the Labour group leader on the council, officially announced he was stepping down on Monday.

An error by council officers meant the local authority initially announced that a by-election would not be needed before the next borough council elections in May 2007, as reported in The Gazette's sister paper, The Basingstoke Extra, yesterday.

However, a closer examination of the rules revealed this was a mistake and a by-election for the empty seat will now be held in Buckskin on December 21.

Officers had originally thought there were less than six months between Mr Potter handing in his resignation and the election, but subsequently realised they had to include the four days following an election, which have to pass before new councillors take up office and others stand down.

The council's chief executive Gordon Holdcroft said: "It had originally been thought a by-election was not needed.

"This was due to there being less than six months between the date of the resignation and the borough council election on May 3, 2007.

"However, further investigation into election law has revealed that the four days between the elections and the councillor officially standing down need to be counted. This takes the period to over six months."

Cllr Potter's sudden resignation has been surrounded by rumours of infighting among local Labour Party members, culminating in Cllr Potter not being picked to fight his seat at the next election.

In an official statement, Cllr Potter said: "I am no longer living in Basingstoke and, as a consequence, would find it difficult to represent the good people of Buckskin in the manner they deserve."

When asked if his resignation was prompted by the party's decision not to choose him to represent Buckskin again, he admitted: "I was not selected and I obviously felt very upset by that, given the work I had done as a Buckskin councillor and group leader. As a consequence of that, I felt my position was untenable."

Local Labour Party leaders have denied that Cllr Potter has been forced out.

However, his departure means that until the by-election date, the ruling Conservative administration will have an overall majority of one - they hold 30 council seats to the combined total of 29 now held by the other groups.

The Conservatives, who took over control of the borough council at the last election, hope they will cement their grip by being victorious in the by-election, as this would give them a clear majority of two seats.

Tory group leader Councillor Mark Ruffell said: "We look forward to giving the residents of Buckskin the opportunity to vote in a ward member who will work on their behalf."

Cllr Andrew McCormick, chairman of Basingstoke's constituency Labour Party, said: "We will vigorously contest the seat, but we do not take anything for granted.

"We have a candidate selected and I have every confidence in our candidate. We are 100 per cent confident that we are the best choice to represent the people of Buckskin."

Cllr Paula Baker, Liberal Democrat group leader, said: "I anticipate that we will want to fight for the seat. We always like to make sure people have the opportunity to vote for us at every chance they get."