With news that fiver more councillors have followed previous Newcastle City Council leader Nick Kemp out of the Labour Party. This will trigger a vote of no confidence from the city’s Lib Dem opposition, and is not what Councillor Kilgore needs so soon after starting her term in office.
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00:00The newly elected leader of Newcastle City Council isn't having the easiest
00:03start to life in her new position with five Labour councillors following
00:07previous leader Nick Kemp out of the party. The mass exodus means that Labour
00:10no longer has a majority on the council holding only 50% of the seats. A Labour
00:14Party source said that the councillors were all elected as Labour candidates
00:18they should have the courage of their convictions called by elections and
00:21contest them as independents. The news will have shocked many in the party with
00:25some of the councillors stepping down having been on the council since the
00:271980s. Councillor David Woods cited a number of reasons why he stepped down
00:31and indicated that he feels more of his colleagues may follow suit. He stated
00:35that he'll still be fighting for the people of Walker as he's done for the
00:38last 36 years. The news has spurred the Liberal Democrats to look at triggering
00:42a vote of no confidence in Councillor Kilgour. They were initially planning to
00:45do this at the previous council meeting but will prevent it from doing so by
00:48council meeting legislation. Colin Ferguson the leader of the city's Lib
00:52Dem opposition advised that this Labour chaos is not the way to deliver for the
00:55people of Newcastle. The vote of no confidence is now planned for the
00:58council's December meeting.