There’ll be an empty seat around the horseshoe at London city hall this fall.
Ward 1 Coun. Michael Van Holst has submitted a letter to the city’s corporate services committee in which he announces plans to take an unpaid leave of absence for the upcoming federal election.
Van Holst is vying to represent the riding of London-Fanshawe in Parliament under the banner of the Conservative Party of Canada.
He announced that he was seeking the Conservative nomination in March and was later acclaimed as the Tory candidate that same month.
The letter should come as no surprise to fellow councillors, with Van Holst previously stating that he would take an unpaid leave of absence as soon as the writ drops.
When he was first elected to municipal office in 2014, Van Holst quit his teaching job to give city council his full-time attention.
Van Holst’s federal bid will see him go up against NDP candidate Lindsay Mathyssen, daughter of the incumbent NDP MP Irene Mathyssen, Liberal candidate Mohamed Hammoud, Green Party candidate Tom Cull and Bela Kosian of the People’s Party of Canada.
Canada’s federal election is expected to take place Oct. 21. Van Holst’s letter states his leave of absence will last until Oct. 25.
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