Newcastle City Council leader Nick Kemp has resigned, in the wake of a bullying complaint against him. The Labour councillor 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 since it was announced he was taking a leave of absence due to ill health.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed this week that Coun Kemp was facing a bullying complaint from one of the city council’s most senior officers, director of investment and growth Michelle Percy.
One member of his Labour cabinet, Alex Hay, subsequently quit in support of Ms Percy and the authority has faced calls from opposition councillors for an independent investigation to be launched.
After days of uncertainty over his future, Coun Kemp wrote to Labour colleagues on Friday morning to inform them of his resignation.
In that email, a copy of which has been seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Coun Kemp wrote that he “strenuously” refuted any allegations of bullying and that recent events had “a significant and detrimental effect on me and my family”.
He 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”, claiming that he had fallen victim to “efforts of others to deliberately discredit and undermine my work, the good work being delivered by certain elected representatives and this administration”.
The Labour group, which has run the city council since 2011, is expected to elect a new leader over the coming weeks, though details of how that contest will proceed have not yet been announced.
Coun Kemp will continue to sit as a city councillor and said that he plans to return to representing the residents of Byker once his health has improved.
In his resignation letter, he said he hoped his departure “creates the opportunity for self-reflection for certain elected Labour representatives of the city council, who seek to act against the interests of their colleagues, their party, and the residents of this great city”.
He added: “This is critical, in order my successor can have confidence they will be able to effectively deliver this role with confidence, positivity and without the consistent unnecessary distractions I have endured.”
The city council released a short statement on Friday afternoon, saying that the remaining members of the Labour cabinet “will continue to provide political leadership of the council” until a new leader is appointed.
A new leader can only be formally appointed at a future meeting of the full council, the next of which is scheduled for October 2.
Coun Kilgour said: “I would like to thank Coun Kemp for all his hard work during his time as leader of council. We will not be commenting further while there is an ongoing council process.”
Coun Kemp has been a prominent figure in city politics for many years, having served as a councillor since 2002.
The 55-year-old, who previously worked for former Labour MP Nick Brown and runs his own public relations agency, took charge of issues including bin collections and trading standards while serving in the cabinet of former council leader Nick Forbes.
Having quit Mr Forbes’ administration in 2020, he then rose to power after the ex-leader was dramatically deselected by Labour Party members in 2022.
With a major factional split within the city’s ruling party having persisted since then, Coun Kemp has twice survived leadership challenges – firstly from Ged Bell, who withdrew from the leadership contest before a vote was held in 2023, and most recently from Dan Greenhough, who was defeated by just a two-vote margin earlier this year.
Coun Kemp’s period as council leader has seen the council embark on major reforms that resulted in the scrapping of Your Homes Newcastle and the authority taking back control over around 25,000 council homes for the first time in 20 years.
His administration has proudly proclaimed the launch of new economic and anti-poverty strategies, while Coun Kemp has also overseen the start of the Tyne Bridge’s long-awaited restoration and was involved in negotiations for the North East devolution deal.
However, he has also endured a number of controversies during his time in office – including questions about whether bullying and a “toxic” atmosphere existed behind the scenes at the council.
There was also criticism surrounding his links to housing company Orca, with the council having to spend more than £4 million to finish a development after the firm went bust, and over a taxpayer-funded trip to Germany during which he and Coun Kilgour attended one of England’s Euro 2024 matches as part of a visit to Newcastle’s sister city of Gelsenkirchen.
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