Newcastle council's Labour group elects Nick Kemp to replace Forbes

Nick Kemp has previously been responsible for the council's bin collection and trading standards

A successor to head a council's controlling party has been elected after the current leader was ousted in a political "ambush".

Nick Kemp will take over as Newcastle City Council's Labour group leader from Nick Forbes.

Council leader Mr Forbes, 48, was deselected from his Arthur's Hill seat ahead of the May election.

Mr Kemp immediately takes over leading Labour and could be the council leader if the party retains control in May.

Mr Forbes, who has led the Labour group since 2007 and the council since 2011, previously confirmed he would not be standing for re-election after losing in a shock defeat to local activist Abdul Samad in a selection meeting in February.

While he could have sought to retain power in another seat, he concluded stepping aside after such a damaging episode was the "one honourable choice available to me", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

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

He has blamed an "ambush" by members on Labour's left wing for his defeat, saying he was targeted as a moderate ally of Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Kemp, who represents the Byker ward, was elected new party leader leader by Labour members ahead of Clare Penny-Evans and Irim Ali.

He previously challenged Mr Forbes for the leadership in May 2021 having quit the council's cabinet the year before claiming he was being undermined by "constant sniping" and "personal animosities" in the Labour group.

During that bad-tempered split, Mr Forbes claimed he had received "a number of complaints about Mr Kemp's behaviour".

Mr Kemp, who runs a public relations firm, has served on the council for 20 years and held responsibility for issues such as trading standards and bin collections in his past role as cabinet member for environmental and regulatory services.

He said it was a "true honour and privilege" to be named leader, adding: "The fact that I have been elected to this role at one of the most challenging moments in the history of local government makes me determined to rise to the challenge.

"I pledge that I will stay true to the wants and needs of the people of our wonderful city and that their interests will always come first."