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A woman has led Newcastle City Council for the first time

A woman has led Newcastle City Council for the first time

Newcastle City Councilor Karen Kilgour, who has long blonde hair and is wearing black glasses, a gray linen blazer and a brown shirt, smiles at the camera.

Karen Kilgour said she would “lead a forward-thinking council that the people of Newcastle will be proud of”.

For the first time, a woman is set to take on the highest position at Newcastle City Castle.

Karen Kilgour ran unopposed in the leadership contest and is set to be officially elected Labor leader.

She will succeed Nick Kemp, who resigned on September 20th after he denied being the subject of a bullying complaint from a senior council official.

Kilgour said it had been a “tough time for our council” and added she would “not waste time getting straight to work”.

Former Labor leader Kemp was the subject of a complaint from director of investment and growth Michelle Percy Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

In an email to his colleagues, Kemp wrote that he had “vigorously denied” any allegations of bullying and that recent events had had a “significant and damaging impact on me and my family.”

Kilgour is scheduled to be elected leader at a council meeting on Wednesday.

She said it was an “absolute honor to be selected” and added that she had “worked with heart and soul to deliver for the residents of Newcastle”.

Nick Kemp, with short gray hair, stands on a main street. He wears a blue suit and looks expressionlessly into the camera.

Kemp said he “vigorously denied” all allegations of bullying.

“This has been a difficult time for our council and if I am elected leader of the full council on Wednesday, I will waste no time and get straight to work,” Kilgour continued.

“I want to lead a forward-thinking council that the people of Newcastle will be proud of.”

Kilgour served on the council for ten years and also served as deputy leader for a year in the final twelve months of Nick Forbes’ term.

She will face the challenge of uniting a Labor group that has experienced public divisions in recent years, ahead of crucial local elections in 2026 in which the party hopes to retain control of a council that she has directed since 2011.