The number of councillors in Newcastle should be cut by a third, according to an independent politician.
Marc Donnelly, a councillor in the outer west Chapel ward, has suggested slashing the number of elected members on Newcastle City Council from 78 to 52 in order to cut costs.
Coun Donnelly told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that, with the council’s spending power and staffing levels having dramatically fallen since 2010, it was “only right” to think about reducing the number of councillors too.
It comes after the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE), which is reviewing the city’s ward boundaries, suggested that Durham County Council has its number of representatives cut by 28.
In a motion due to be debated at the city council on Wednesday night, Coun Donnelly claims that Newcastle has “a substantially lower number of residents per councillor” than any of England’s other core cities – most of which have much larger populations.
He said that the most comparable core city in population terms was Nottingham, which has just 55 councillors.
Coun Donnelly said: “If you look at the core cities in England that have higher populations than Newcastle and fewer councillors, it is only right that we consider the number of elected members we have. When I started 20 years ago, the council was a much bigger organisation than it is now – but the constant aspect that has remained the same is the number of elected members, which has not changed.”
Coun Donnelly has also called for a redrawing of the city’s political map, so that it is made up of a larger number of smaller wards that would be represented by a single councillor, and to hold all-out local elections once every four years rather than on a staggered basis.
The LGBCE is currently developing proposals on what size Newcastle City Council should be, with a decision expected in January.
A public consultation exercise on a new ward map for the city is due to be held next year, with the changes to be implemented at May 2026’s local elections.
Colin Ferguson, leader of Newcastle’s Liberal Democrat opposition, said Coun Donnelly’s motion “will have little discernible effect” on the first stage of the LGBCE’s review.
He added: “The Opposition has long thought it reasonable to assess the costs of and arrangements for delivering local democracy, having brought forward relevant proposals in the past. We will be making our own submission to the Boundary Commission before the deadline.”
The council’s Labour administration declined to comment ahead of Wednesday’s council meeting.
