Neghat Khan: New leader chosen for Nottingham City Council

Neghat Khan will take on the role formally on 20 May

A new leader has been chosen at a city council that recently announced it had gone effectively bankrupt.

Labour has picked councillor Neghat Khan to take on the role at Nottingham City Council after David Mellen announced he was stepping down.

The former Robin Hood Energy chairwoman was appointed on Tuesday and will formally take on the role of leader on 20 May.

She said she was "delighted" to have been given the opportunity.

A Nottingham Labour Group meeting to choose a leader was set for April, but the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) stepped in to oversee the election, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The NEC interviewed potential candidates, and suitable applicants were due to be presented to the local group at a meeting on Tuesday evening.

However, the Dales ward councillor was deemed the only suitable candidate and was installed as the new leader ahead of the meeting.

Ms Khan will replace David Mellen, who announced he was stepping down in March

Ms Khan said in a statement: "I am delighted to be taking up the roles of leader of Nottingham Labour and Nottingham City Council.

"We know there are challenges ahead and I look forward to working with colleagues to make positive changes for our city.

"We have had 14 years of Conservative cuts to our funding. We will work hard to mitigate the impact of those cuts by championing our communities and delivering for Nottingham people."

The Labour-run council effectively declared bankruptcy by issuing a section 114 notice in November, and the government appointed commissioners to help run the authority in February.

Ms Khan was also a director of Robin Hood Energy before being appointed chairwoman in 2019.

The collapse of the council-run energy firm in 2020 cost taxpayers an estimated £38m, and was cited as a reason for the authority's lack of financial resilience in issuing the section 114 notice last year.

Councillor Ethan Radford, who represents Bulwell, has been selected as deputy leader, taking over from Audra Wynter.

Labour's NEC has also installed councillor Matt Shannon as chief whip, while the deputy whips will be Helen Kalsi and Sana Nasir.

Chairman of Nottingham Labour will be councillor Mike Edwards, and Sulcan Mahmood will become treasurer.