Green Party Europen candidate Ross Brown pictured at the European Election count at the King's Hall in Belfast. Photo Aidan O'Reilly/Pacemaker Press

Ross Brown, who was elected to the council in 2014, stood for the Greens in May’s Assembly election, where he was in contention for a seat in East Belfast but ultimately lost out.

In a statement at lunch time today, the Greens announced that Mr Brown will resign his Ormiston seat on the council.

The party said that Mr Brown had decided to step down from politics last month, “having been offered a new job which will require him to move away from Northern Ireland”.

Sign up to our daily newsletter The i newsletter cut through the noise Sign up Thanks for signing up! Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting...

The party has already selected Georgina Milne to replace him on the council.

Mr Brown had worked in the Stormont office of the Green leader in Northern Ireland, Steven Agnew.

Mr Agnew said: “I would like to thank Ross for his hard work representing his constituents and wish him well for the future. Councillors work incredibly hard on behalf of their constituents, and Ross has been a shining example of this since his election in 2014.”

Mr Brown said “I want to take this opportunity to offer thanks to my mentors, fellow councillors and City Hall staff who have helped me serve my constituents as best I can.