As if Oxford City Council hasn't had a difficult enough time adjusting to changes in the balance of power in May and since, the Oxford Mail reports another City Councillor Set To Quit:

Labour Oxford city councillor Dan Paskins has forced another by-election by announcing he is to quit the Town Hall.

The 26-year-old executive board member and Lye Valley councillor will become the fifth Labour councillor to quit this calendar year. He is due to leave officially in a couple of weeks.

Dan is generally the decent sort, and has done the decent thing - he's been offered a job in Liverpool and doesn't think, rightly, he should try to hang on at the Council pretending to attend the odd meeting or simply fading away over six months' inactivity. So he's done the honest thing and decided to stand down before he disappears.

Byelections always put a bit of strain on parties, and there was some discussion the other night about how much they cost to hold them separately (in this case unavoidably though as all recognised I think) rather than to announce any you know are coming up at the same time. So, whilst I am sure my party colleagues will want to crucify me for suggesting we want even more campaigning in early autumn, perhaps now is a good time for those who have not yet done the decent thing, who got where they are today through the efforts of other people in parties they have now abandoned, to do just that.

Paul Sargent, Sajjad Malik, if you're reading, you clearly have a couple of weeks to think about this. Do the decent thing, prove you have a mandate under the banner you now carry, or not. Let's have a "super Thursday" with three on one day.