Newcastle’s council leader-elect has cleared a crucial hurdle in his path to taking control at the civic centre.
Nick Kemp was reconfirmed as Labour’s new leader in the city on Monday. The Byker councillor had previously been chosen to succeed Nick Forbes in a leadership contest in March but, amid a major divide in the city’s ruling party, could have faced the prospect of a new challenge being mounted against him at the Newcastle Labour Group’s AGM this week.
But his rule went uncontested on Monday evening, as did that of his deputy Karen Kilgour, paving the way for Coun Kemp to be formally installed as council leader at the authority’s annual meeting on May 25. He has pledged a “reset” at the civic centre and a wholesale review of frontline services, with a major overhaul of the council’s cabinet expected that will see long-serving members of the Forbes administration replaced at the top table.
