First woman appointed as city council's leader

Karen Kilgour said she would "lead a forward-looking council that the people of Newcastle will be proud of"

A woman is to take on the most senior role at Newcastle City Council for the first time.

Karen Kilgour ran unopposed in the leadership contest and is due to be officially voted in as the Labour leader.

She will succeed Nick Kemp, who resigned on 20 September after he denied being the subject of a bullying complaint from a senior council officer.

Kilgour said it had been a "tough time for our council" and added she would "waste no time in getting straight to the job".

Former Labour leader, Kemp, was the subject of a complaint made by director of investment and growth Michelle Percy, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

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".

Kilgour is due to be voted in as leader at a council meeting on Wednesday.

She said it was an "absolute honour to be selected" and added that she had worked "tooth and nail to deliver for Newcastle residents".

Kemp said he "strenuously refuted" any allegations of bullying

"This has been a tough time for our council, and should I be elected leader at full council on Wednesday, I will waste no time in getting straight to the job," Kilgour continued.

"I want to lead a forward-looking council that the people of Newcastle will be proud of."

Kilgour has sat on the council for 10 years and also spent a year as deputy leader in the final 12 months of Nick Forbes’ administration.

She will take on the challenge of uniting a Labour group that has experienced public divisions over recent years, ahead of a critical "all out" local election in 2026, in which the party will be hoping to retain control of a council it has run since 2011.