Nick Forbes

Councillor
Nick Forbes
Leader of Newcastle City Council
Assumed office
5 May 2011
Preceded by David Faulkner
Leader of the Labour Party on Newcastle City Council
Assumed office
May 2007
Leader of LGA Labour Group
Assumed office
6 January 2016
Preceded by Jim McMahon
Newcastle City Councillor
for Arthur's Hill
Westgate (2004-2018)
Moorside (2000–2004)
Assumed office
4 May 2000
Personal details
Born Nicholas Iain Forbes
(1973-11-08) 8 November 1973
County Durham, United Kingdom[1][2][3]
Political party Labour

Nick Forbes (born 8 November 1973)[3] is the leader of Newcastle City Council. He is a member of the Labour Party and also leader of the Labour group on the City Council.[4]

Forbes attended Wolsingham comprehensive in County Durham, before taking a social and political science degree at Cambridge University. He obtained a management diploma from Sheffield Hallam University, and a Master's degree in Music from the Open University.[3]

Forbes became a councillor in May 2000, representing the Westgate part of the city, and went on to become Labour group leader in May 2007, and in 2011 became leader of the council following the 2011 local elections which saw the Liberal Democrats suffer heavy losses across the city, as well as nationally. He has been an extensive critic of the government's fiscal policy of cuts in funding to local government, and defended a policy of particularly cutting arts funding in the city in response.[5][6][1]

In February 2016, Forbes succeeded Jim McMahon as leader of Labour's Local Government Association.[7]

Forbes is strongly critical of Universal Credit. Forbes wrote, "Our country is on the verge of a housing crisis as a result of universal credit, and I know because it is unfolding right now in Newcastle. The government is pushing ahead with a benefit reform that has a built-in wait for financial support averaging six weeks. This causes uncertainty, debt, and an unavoidable feeling that this "reform" is designed to punish. (...) The consequences will be far-reaching. Austerity has led to a rise in homelessness and begging. On our streets we can see what happens after seven years of ideologically-driven assaults on the welfare state. Housing and welfare support are intertwined and you cannot change one without an impact on the other. Beyond housing, how can we expect those on universal credit to get to the jobs the Tories assume recipients will seek out, if there is no money for bus fare? And what about the children of those on universal credit? Families making new applications for free school meals are being told they can't have help feeding their children until the six-week waiting period for the new benefit passes."[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Butler, Patrick (8 January 2013). "Newcastle council leader: arts cuts are inevitable result of coalition policy". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Search Results: Nick Forbes". GenesReunited.
  3. 1 2 3
  4. ↑ "Leader of the council". Newcastle City Council. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Harris, John. "Is saving Newcastle a mission impossible?". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Harris, John; Mason, Rowena. "Funding crisis leaves Newcastle facing 'impossible cuts' and social unrest". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Pope, Conor (6 February 2016). "Nick Forbes elected new leader of Labour's local government group". Labour List. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Universal credit is returning my city to the days of Cathy Come Home The Guardian
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