Council leader resigns after bullying accusation

Nick Kemp announced he was taking a temporary leave of absence last week due to "ill health"

A council leader has resigned after a bullying accusation was made against him.

On Tuesday it was revealed the Labour leader of Newcastle City Council, Nick Kemp, who is currently on sick leave, was the subject of a complaint made by director of investment and growth Michelle Percy.

In an email to his colleagues, Kemp wrote that he "strenuously refuted" any allegations of bullying and said that recent events had "had a significant and detrimental effect on me and my family".

He will step down with immediate effect as council leader and be replaced on an interim basis by his deputy Karen Kilgour, who has assumed his duties for the past week.

Kemp wrote to Labour colleagues to inform them of his resignation.

In that email, a copy of which has been seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Kemp said that he no longer felt "able to operate in good faith in the position of leader of Labour Group and of Newcastle City Council".

He also claimed that he had fallen victim to "efforts of others to deliberately discredit and undermine my work".

New leader

Kemp has been a prominent figure in city politics for many years, having served as a councillor for Byker since 2002.

The Labour group, which has run the city council since 2011, is expected to elect a new leader over the coming weeks, although details of how that contest will proceed have not yet been announced.

A new leader can only be formally appointed at a future meeting of the full council, the next of which is scheduled for 2 October.

Kemp will continue to sit as a city councillor and said he planned to return to representing the residents of Byker once his health had improved.

The Liberal Democrats called for an independent inquiry into culture at Newcastle's Civic Centre

Councillor Colin Ferguson, the leader of the official Liberal Democrat opposition in the council, said Kemp had done the "right thing" by stepping aside.

Ferguson added: "But his statement makes clear that tensions will remain in the Labour Group that must urgently be addressed for the sake of Newcastle residents, who risk being badly let down by Labour infighting."

He reiterated his party's calls for an independent inquiry into the political culture at the Civic Centre.

"Picking a new leader cannot be an opportunity for Labour to brush the culture under the carpet that led the city to this point," Ferguson added.