Nick Forbes confirms exit as Newcastle council leader

Newcastle will have a new council leader in May – after Nick Forbes confirmed his time in the top job is coming to an end.

The long-serving Labour figurehead was dealt a stunning blow earlier this month when he was deselected by party members in his Arthur’s Hill ward, leaving him without a seat to contest in this May’s local elections and his political future in severe jeopardy.

Coun Forbes announced on Monday evening that he did not want to be parachuted into another ward in the city and will, therefore, be making an exit from the civic centre’s corridors of power.

The 48-year-old revealed his decision at a cabinet meeting, saying that withdrawing from May’s elections was the “one honourable choice available to me”.

He said that representing another ward would feel like a “betrayal of the communities I have served” for his 22 years as a councillor and that he was “not prepared to ask for the Labour Party rule book to be exploited in my favour”, either by seeking election elsewhere or trying to overturn the Arthur’s Hill selection.

He will remain as Newcastle City Council leader, as well as vice chair of the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority and senior vice chair of the Local Government Association, until his term in office comes to a close – but has asked for a new Labour group leader to be elected in the city before May, in order to give “clarity” to voters about the party’s direction.

"I'm disappointed that I will no longer be the voice for Newcastle"

Coun Forbes, a senior figure within the Labour Party nationally and an ally of Sir Keir Starmer, said:

“Exiting Newcastle politics like this brings me mixed emotions and a heavy heart.

“I am disappointed that I will no longer be a voice for Newcastle at regional and national levels, or be able to represent the city directly to Government, but I am immensely proud of having been the first LGBT leader of this council – and its second longest serving leader.

“Above all, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have served my city, the wider local government family and the Labour Party. This I have done to the best of my abilities.

“I intend to spend my remaining time in office securing a new devolution deal for the region, working on the Fabian Society commission that I lead about tackling poverty and regional inequalities, and thanking all the amazing people I have worked with during the past eleven years – across all sectors and organisations and all walks of life – who make up Team Newcastle and who continue to work tirelessly to ensure this city and its people have a great future.”

After his landslide 13-4 defeat to local activist Abdul Samad in the Arthur’s Hill selection contest on February 8, Coun Forbes said he would take time to consider his future.

But his chances of remaining as council leader looked slim, even if he was minded to seek election in another ward, given the damage done to his political authority by the deselection.

Coun Forbes previously survived a leadership challenge by rival Labour councillor Nick Kemp last year, but saw his long-serving deputy Joyce McCarty ousted by Karen Kilgour that same night.

He complained on Monday that there had been a “serious procedural anomaly” in the Arthur’s Hill selection as he was not given seven days’ notice that he was facing a challenge in the ward and did not know “until I was told the outcome of the vote”.

The Labour Party has previously confirmed that it is investigating complaints about the meeting, though sources on the other side of the political split have strongly denied any wrongdoing and described the selection process as “normal practice” for the region.

Coun Forbes, Newcastle’s first openly gay council leader, has led the city’s Labour group since 2007 and the council since 2011, while he also serves as Labour’s leader on the Local Government Association and is a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee.

During his tenure as leader, he helped secure the region’s first devolution deal for the North of Tyne and has set Newcastle a target of reaching Net Zero by 2030.

Much of his reign has been spent battling major budget cuts from central government, which have led the council to slash more than £300m of spending over the past decade.