Newcastle Council leader Nick Forbes claims 'ambush' by party members

Nick Forbes will leave his role as Newcastle City Council leader in May

A Labour council leader has accused left-wing members of his party of "ambushing" him.

Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes is standing down after another candidate was chosen to fight his seat in the May elections.

"I was ambushed on the night at the meeting - I didn't know I was going to have a contested selection," he said.

Local members denied any ambush and said Mr Forbes was beaten fairly by a candidate more rooted in the community.

Mr Forbes, a councillor for 22 years and the authority's elected leader for 11, was beaten at the selection meeting for his Arthur's Hill ward earlier on 8 February.

The 48-year-old lost by 13 votes to four to Abdul Samad, who previously stood for the Parklands ward on the council in 2021.

The council leader said he felt a 'sense of injustice'

The Labour Party had been investigating the selection process but said it did not have any further comment to add now Mr Forbes had accepted the result and would be standing down.

Mr Forbes said he had not wanted to be parachuted into another ward.

"Ultimately I was a target because I'm seen as quite close to Keir Starmer," he said.

He said nobody from the constituency party had told him his seat was to be contested and he felt a "sense of injustice" about that.

"But there's no point getting bitter about it," he said.

"I think it's better to accept the damage to my political reputation and not damage the reputation of the city by prolonging my time in office unnecessarily."