Six Nottingham City Council leadership contenders emerge to take over from David Mellen

Six people have emerged as contenders to take over the running of Nottingham City Council from David Mellen. Nottinghamshire Live understands that the six councillors were interviewed by Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) on Monday (April 29) and that a final shortlist of candidates will now be produced.

It is understood that the six candidates, in alphabetical order by surname, are: Leslie Ayoola, Cheryl Barnard, Steve Battlemuch, Sam Gardiner, Neghat Khan and Sajid Mohammed. All six are serving Nottingham Labour councillors and three of them - Cheryl Barnard, Steve Battlemuch and Neghat Khan - are former directors of Robin Hood Energy, the city council's energy company that collapsed at a cost of £38m to taxpayers.

None of the leadership contenders come from the new intake of councillors elected in the May 2023 local elections, with several of them currently in portfolio holder roles. Councillor Barnard is currently the lead on children, young people and education, Councillor Battlemuch leads on skills, growth, economic development and property and Councillor Mohammed is the current portfolio holder for neighbourhoods, safety and inclusion.

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The leadership election is being held in unusual circumstances, given that the NEC would not usually be getting involved. Labour is set to remain the largest party at Nottingham City Council until at least 2027 following last May's local elections but every year, the party holds a meeting among its councillors to decide who its leader will be for the next 12 months.

It would usually be entirely up to Nottingham's Labour councillors to make that call, but Labour's NEC has this year decided to interview candidates beforehand and then draw up its own shortlist, which councillors can then choose from. The NEC is the national ruling body of the Labour Party and is made up of figures including Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner, MPs and union representatives.

It is said to be unlikely that all six initial contenders will make the final shortlist that Nottingham Labour councillors can choose from at their group meeting. The next Labour group meeting in the diary is May 7 and their final decision will be needed in time for the next full council meeting on May 20.

The Nottingham Labour meeting to decide its next leader was initially due to be held on April 15, but the NEC's intervention delayed the process. A Labour party spokesperson previously said: "The challenges facing Nottingham City Council are a result of 14 years of brutal Conservative cuts to local government.

"Nottingham is not alone in facing these challenges but local people have borne the cost of Tory chaos. Labour's plans for local government will give Nottingham City Council the tools it needs to deliver for local people."

Councillor Mellen, a former headteacher in Nottingham, took over the running of the city council from Jon Collins in 2019. Having first been elected to the council in 2007, Councillor Mellen will continue to represent the Dales ward as a local councillor after stepping down as leader.