Newcastle’s new council leader has called on the city’s Labour Party to unite behind her after a period of dramatic upheaval at the Civic Centre.
Karen Kilgour was confirmed last week as the first female leader in the history of Newcastle City Council. She replaces Nick Kemp, who resigned last month following the revelation that he is the subject of a bullying complaint from a senior council director.
That was just the latest in a series of events that have sparked questions about the running of the city – including factional infighting within the ruling Labour group, the shock removal of former council leader Nick Forbes in 2022, several resignations, accusations of bullying and Islamophobia in the party, the departure of numerous high-ranking local authority directors, and claims of officers “undermining” the council.
In her first interview since being confirmed in the top job last Wednesday, Cllr Kilgour told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that she had confidence in the council’s leadership team.
When asked how she planned to unite a Labour group plagued by rumours of internal divisions for years, she replied: “Some of what I want to do will be internal to our group and I am not going to discuss that outside of the group.
“There are lots of things we can do to come together, work together, and unify as a group. We are unified in purpose, in our desire to do the best for the residents of this city. So there are bits of work we will carry out internally.
“Other than that, there is now a different person at the helm, with different priorities and different ways of working. My focus will be on delivering for the residents of our city and I will make sure that is the focus for everyone else as well.”
Cllr Kilgour served as Cllr Kemp’s deputy for two and a half years and performed the same role in the final 12 months of Mr Forbes’ administration, before he was deselected by Labour members in his own ward.
There has been a struggle for power ever since, with Cllr Kemp narrowly winning the contest to replace Mr Forbes and later surviving two leadership challenges.
But Cllr Kilgour was the only name on the shortlist that was presented to the city’s Labour councillors at a meeting to choose their new group leader last week, despite sources confirming the intervention of the party’s National Executive Committee and other candidates being asked to come forward.
She has sat on the council since 2014 and has previously held responsibility for health and social care issues within the cabinet. The West Fenham ward councillor told the LDRS that she had a “very positive” experience of the council’s top brass, adding that she had “been able to challenge when I needed to and have been challenged when that has been necessary and it has been done in a very professional manner”.
The city council is yet to confirm whether a formal investigation will be launched into the complaint made against Cllr Kemp, who continues to sit as a councillor for Byker, by director of investment and growth Michelle Percy. The former council leader has said that he strenuously denies the accusations.
Asked how the council would ensure transparency around how the complaint is handed, Cllr Kilgour repeated that she did not want to interfere in the process.
She said: “I don’t want to pre-judge or prejudice anything. As a councillor it is not my role to discuss that process.
“That process needs to be allowed to play out and officers need to be able to carry out their investigations, if that is what they decide they are going to do. They need to be able to do that without any sort of interference or ongoing commentary from me or anyone else.
“We have a process and those reports will go through that process to the audit and standards committee. All of the governance is already in place to ensure that things happen properly and in accordance with our rules and regulations as a council. But I should not play any part in that and it is not my position to interfere.”
