Newcastle’s new council leader wants to “redefine the brand” of the city and plans to take inspiration from Manchester’s worker bee emblem.
Labour chief Nick Kemp has revealed that one of his missions now that he has taken charge at the civic centre is to “recapture” a sense of Geordie pride. The Byker councillor was formally installed as Nick Forbes’ successor in the city council hotseat in late May, after a turbulent few months that saw the long-serving leader deselected in his ward.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) about his top priorities now that he is in the local authority’s top office, Coun Kemp said he wanted to “redefine the brand of Newcastle ” and was keen to find a unifying symbol for the city in the way that the bee came to symbolise Manchester’s industrial heritage and become a sign of unity in the wake of the 2017 terrorist attack.
