Newcastle’s political establishment has been rocked to the core after the city’s council leader suffered a landslide defeat that puts his future in severe jeopardy.
Nick Forbes, who has headed the Labour-run local authority since 2011, was heavily beaten in a party selection battle in his Arthur’s Hill ward on Tuesday night.
The loss means that he will not be eligible to stand for re-election as a councillor this May, unless he can be parachuted into an alternative seat elsewhere in the city.
