The SDLP's political director is stepping down two months after the party suffered significant losses in the Stormont Assembly election.
Carl Whyte, who had held the top post since 2020, will continue in his elected role as a councillor for the party in North Belfast.
The SDLP dropped from third-largest party at Stormont to fifth-largest in May's election after losing four MLAs, including deputy leader Nichola Mallon.
Read more: Taoiseach Micheál Martin opposes bid to end Fianna Fáíl partnership with the SDLP
Now with eight seats in the Assembly, the party is no longer automatically entitled to a ministerial post in the power-sharing Executive.
Mr Whyte was elected as a councillor in the Castle area of North Belfast in 2019. He ran a Belfast-based PR company before moving to work full-time for the SDLP.
In 2015, Mr Whyte was involved in SDLP leader Colum Eastwood's campaign when he won a leadership election contest against former South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell.
The 42-year-old was also an SDLP appointee to the Commission for Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition, a Stormont body which examined ways to address flags and bonfire disputes.
In a statement, Mr Whyte told Belfast Live: "After a difficult election for the SDLP in Belfast, I have decided to focus my energy and effort on rebuilding in the north and west of the city in particular.
"That will require my focused attention, working alongside our team of councillors and party representatives to offer a new kind of politics rooted in the vision and values of the SDLP.
"I will, of course, remain a Belfast city councillor and will continue to deliver for the people I represent."
In May Sinn Féin became the largest party at Stormont for the first time with 27 seats, overtaking the DUP which dropped to second place with 25 seats.
The Alliance Party jumped from fifth to third-largest after more than doubling its number of MLAs to 17, while the UUP is in fourth place with nine MLAs after losing one seat.
Stormont's Assembly and Executive have not been fully functioning since the election because the DUP is blocking their restoration in protest over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
During the election count in May, Mr Eastwood argued the nationalist electorate may have "lent" their vote to Sinn Féin to secure the First Minister post.
It followed an election campaign in which the DUP and UUP had refused to confirm whether they would take up the Deputy First Minister post if Sinn Féin became the largest party.
Mr Eastwood told PA: "People decided to send a very clear message that nationalists should not be locked out of the First Minister position.
"I understand that motivation and I think a lot of people have lent Sinn Féin their vote."
Sinn Féin rubbished that idea, with Finance Minister Conor Murphy saying that he had heard the same analysis in the 1990s.
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