A date has been set for the by-election triggered by the resignation of West Thornton councillor Emily Benn.

Voters will go to the polls on May 5 to elect a new ward councillor after the Labour member announced her departure in earlier this month, less than two years after being elected.

Cllr Benn, granddaughter of late party grandee Tony, has accepted a job offer in New York. She was elected as a councillor in May 2014 with 2,461 votes - more than any other West Thornton candidate.

RELATED: Emily Benn resigns as Croydon councillor for West Thornton

Labour today announced their candidate for the by-election would be Callton Young, a former senior civil servant and organiser of the Thornton Heath Festival.

Croydon Labour leader Tony Newman said: “He’s going to be a great candidate. He’s going to do well.”

Mr Young worked at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) before being appointed the director of sustainability for the Food and Drink Federation in 2006.

He received an OBE in 2008 for his work at Defra, and also headed the team who worked on the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 parliamentary bill.

Today he tweeted: "Am very pleased to have been selected by West Thornton Labour to stand as their candidate in the upcoming by-election for West Thornton Ward."

The vote will take place on the same day as the London Mayoral and London Assembly elections. The deadline for candidate nominations has been set as 4pm on April 7. 

Cllr Benn’s departure triggers the first by-election in the borough since March 2015, when Selhurst voters went to the polls following the death of long-standing Labour councillor Gerry Ryan.

People who wish to vote in the by-election need to register with Croydon Council April 18.

West Thornton is a safe ward for Labour, which holds all three seats

But Cllr Newman was confident that Mr Young would be not be a complacent candidate.

He said: "I know, like me, that while he will be confident [of winning] he won't be taking any vote for granted."

RELATED: Croydon councillor Matthew Kyeremeh left wife homeless after exploiting her mental illness to 'fleece' her of properties

A second by-election could follow in neighbouring Thornton Heath, where Cllr Matthew Kyeremeh is facing calls from his own party to resign after it emerged he exploited his wife’s mental illness to “fleece” her out of the house she owned, leaving sleeping rough in a park.

Got a story? Call the newsdesk on 020 8722 6388 or email daniel.omahony@newsquest.co.uk