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.
Read More: Labour chief Nick Kemp pledges Newcastle Council 'reset' to shift focus away from city centre
Coun Forbes’ 11-year reign was brought to a dramatic end after he was deselected in his Arthur’s Hill ward in February, a move he has branded an "ambush" by left wing Labour members, prompting him to announce he would step away from city politics rather than seek re-election in another ward. While his term as a city councillor has now ended, a quirk of the local authority’s constitution means he is still technically council leader until the annual meeting – though it is understood that he would only be called into action if there was a major incident in the city.
Coun Kilgour told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the absence of another leadership battle, following months of political turbulence in the city, meant the incoming administration could now get down to work. She said: “Now we can concentrate on delivering our manifesto commitments, having a look at what we do as a council and checking whether what we are doing is the right thing or if it needs a bit of a reset.
“Some of the things that we have been doing for a while are not the right thing anymore and are not being done in the right way.”
Labour lost one seat in Newcastle at last week’s local elections, losing by 25 votes to the Liberal Democrats in the swing seat of Ouseburn. But the party managed to hold off challenges in wards including North Jesmond, West Fenham and Lemington to make it a largely happy night for the ruling group.
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