Ross Kerridge quits Labor to run for mayor against Nuatali Nelmes

Dr Kerridge lost a close Labor lord mayoral preselection contest against Cr Nelmes in February but announced on Friday that he had resigned from the party and would head up a team of independent candidates under the "Our Newcastle" banner.

He told the Newcastle Herald that the Labor-majority council had become too focused on "glamour" projects and divisive politics.

"I think the concern is about a very top-down style of leadership where projects are announced and everyone is expected to fall into line when there's been no consultation," he said.

Dr Kerridge, a senior staff specialist at John Hunter Hospital and University of Newcastle associate professor, said he would work with "all 12" councillors if elected as lord mayor.

"It won't be divided down the middle in a schoolyard imitation of parliament," he said.

"The current council is indulging in bickering, infighting, political point-scoring.

"This is not the sort of council Newcastle needs. We need to work together."

The Our Newcastle team will announce candidates in all four wards closer to election day on September 14.

Liberal councillor Katrina Wark said on Friday that she had quit the party after losing state executive endorsement and hoped to join the Kerridge-led team as an independent candidate.

Deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen issued a statement on behalf of the incumbent Labor councillors questioning Dr Kerridge's motives for running, saying he had "long aspired to hold public office".

"After being unsuccessful in the rank-and-file Labor preselection, Dr Kerridge now claims to be heading a group of 'independent' party candidates," the statement said.

"Novocastrians will no doubt question Dr Kerridge's motives and will see through fake independents."

The Greens have selected councillor Charlotte McCabe to contest the lord mayoral vote.

Independent councillor John Church, who ran for lord mayor in 2021, said he had not decided whether to run again but "I wish Ross every success".

Dr Kerridge said he had been "pestered by so many people over the past six months from all walks of life, in the corridors of the hospital, in the street".

"They're saying something has to change and you're the person to do it."

He criticised the council for raising rates above inflation over the past decade while spending on projects of questionable value.

"Some of these projects are wildly over budget," he said.

"People are hurting, and there's talk of raising rates again above CPI.

"Now we're looking at $12 million and counting for a water park at the Foreshore when the pools out west are deteriorating."

Dr Kerridge, who was a Labor life member after joining the party at the age of 18, won 44 per cent of the preselection vote in February.

He said he supported the city's state and federal Labor MPs, but the council's leadership had not listened to the concerns of the party members who had voted for him.

"Our city has seen scandal after scandal, embarrassment after embarrassment," he said.

"We need fresh leadership that will actually listen to the community."

Dr Kerridge said the city was losing its egalitarian identity.

"Some things have improved, but we've lost a lot of opportunities and developed the habit of wasting money on glamour projects," he said.

"We're now in a cost-of-living crisis. We're losing a coherent sense of identity. We're divided into glitzy people and other people who are left behind."

He said the council's financial reporting was "designed in such a way as you can't work out where the money is going."

"The people of Newcastle are entitled to know exactly what the council is doing with their money.

"The job of the council is to provide basic services and infrastructure. That's not what they're doing. Instead they're focusing on glamour projects like $20 million skate bowls on South Newcastle beach."

He also criticised the council for charging sports clubs too much for using fields, "commercialising" venues and an "obsession with privatisation".

Cr Clausen's statement defended Labor's record under Cr Nelmes.

"Through our council budgets, we have delivered over $1 billion of investment into our local infrastructure in the last 10 years," he said.

"This represents an enormous increase in new public infrastructure, more than doubling council's historic spend.

"Our focus this year is delivering council's biggest ever infrastructure program to improve our local streets, footpaths and public areas."

He said the council was delivering improvements in every suburb of the city, including $14.6 million for roads and footpaths and $7.7 million on stormwater projects and flood planning.

Labor councillors had prioritised local centre upgrades in Shortland, Beresfield, Carrington, Kotara, Stockton, Darby Street and Beaumont Street and playground upgrades had begun at every inland pool.

Cr Clausen also pointed to shopping centre upgrades at Blackbutt village, Georgetown and Wallsend and playground improvements at Wallsend, Blackbutt Reserve, Stockton, Beresfield, Minmi, New Lambton, Waratah and Birmingham Gardens.

"We know from our extensive consultation with all communities right across the LGA that these upgrades and investments are not only welcomed enhancements but essential for an inclusive and liveable city," he said.

"We have fought for funding for each of these projects and will continue to fight for the infrastructure our city deserves."