Newcastle City Council confirms investigation into bullying claim against ex-leader Nick Kemp

A full investigation is being launched into a bullying complaint made against Newcastle’s former council leader.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed in September how Nick Kemp was the subject of a bullying accusation from a senior Newcastle City Council director, Michelle Percy. The Byker ward councillor, who subsequently resigned as leader and has this week quit the Labour Party, has strenuously denied the allegations.

Local authority officials have now confirmed that Ms Percy’s complaint has been referred for a full investigation and that an external investigator has been appointed to carry out the probe, rather than it being conducted by council staff. A Newcastle City Council spokesperson told the LDRS: “We can confirm the complaint is now the subject of an investigation and that an external investigator has been appointed to carry out that investigation. It will be for the investigator to decide how to carry out the investigation in accordance with the council’s protocol for dealing with complaints.”

The LDRS has attempted to contact Coun Kemp for a response.

In a statement issued following his resignation as leader in September, he said he was “firmly of the opinion there is no case to answer in this matter”. The long-serving politician added: “I strenuously deny and refute any allegations of bullying behaviour.”

Coun Kemp and five other Labour members this week resigned from the Labour Party and, in doing so, wiped out the party’s majority on the city council. All six are now sitting as independents, leaving Labour with just 39 of 78 seats – only 50% of a council chamber that it has dominated since returning to power in the city in 2011.

His replacement as leader, Karen Kilgour, is now set to face a vote of no confidence that the Liberal Democrat opposition is planning to call at the next full council meeting on December 4. That meeting is also due to include a debate on a Lib Dem motion which will push for an independent inquiry to be launched into the political leadership of the council.

There have been numerous concerns aired about the culture at the top of the civic centre and within Newcastle Labour over recent years. Council chief executive Pam Smith refused to deny the presence of a “toxic” atmosphere and bullying in the administration when she was questioned in front of the authority’s audit committee in 2023.

Shortly after that, Labour councillor Jane Byrne quit the council cabinet and made an explosive social media statement in which she accused officers of “undermining” the council. Ex-Labour councillors John-Paul Stephenson, Shumel Rahman and Habib Rahman have also all cited alleged bullying within the party over the last 18 months.

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