Newcastle’s warring Labour Party has been engulfed by yet another controversy which could see the city’s new council leader forced out.
Ahead of the party’s national conference in Liverpool, it has emerged that some Labour members in the city have launched a motion that, if approved, would effectively disqualify Nick Kemp from sitting as a councillor. A proposal put forward by the Newcastle Central Constituency Labour Party (CLP) would prevent anyone who works as a lobbyist from being selected as a Labour candidate for public office.
Coun Kemp, who has only been in charge at the city council since the end of May, runs a public relations consultancy firm, NKA Public Affairs. The Byker councillor told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he did not view the motion as a “personal attack” and that his business dealings were “fully transparent”, while the city's Lib Dem opposition accused Labour of infighting that has become a "complete distraction for our city".
