Gould resignation paves way for 9 June election

BRYAN Gould, the former shadow Cabinet member, last night resigned as the Labour MP for Dagenham.

Mr Gould had already signalled his intention to quit to take up an academic post in his native New Zealand. The decision to relinquish the seat now instead of September, as originally intended, means Labour can call a by-election on 9 June.

The contest for the Essex seat will therefore coincide with the European Parliament elections and three other pending by-elections, two in nearby constituencies. Writs for all four contests are expected to be moved today. Mr Gould was under pressure to go to enable Labour to save electioneering costs.

The left-wing Mr Gould fought Mr Smith for the party leadership in 1992. He resigned from the shadow cabinet soon afterwards over his opposition to Europe, later turning his fire on front-bench economic policy.