Mike Layton bows out of upcoming Toronto election

Mike Layton won’t seek re-election in this October’s election, he confirmed Wednesday, a move that means Toronto won’t have a Layton in office for the first time in decades. 

Layton, currently the city councillor for University-Rosedale, has been in office since 2010. His father, the late Jack Layton, was a Toronto councillor beginning in the 1980s before moving into federal politics and leading the New Democratic Party.

At city hall, the younger Layton was one of council’s strongest voices on environmental issues and also championed projects like the Bloor Street bike lanes. 

He’s the latest progressive councillor to call it quits in the downtown core. Coun. Joe Cressy left municipal politics earlier this year and Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam made the jump to provincial politics this June. 

Toronto’s election is set for October 24.