Newcastle's incumbent Labor councillors and lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes are facing an all-out preselection challenge from the party's rank-and-file.
The Newcastle Herald has confirmed that rival tickets nominated for Labor preselection in all four council wards before the close of nominations at 5pm on Thursday and anaesthetist Ross Kerridge has challenged Cr Nelmes for preselection as lord mayor.
Labor branch members will preselect candidates in each of the city's four wards on February 17 leading up to the local government elections in September.
Party sources have linked the mutiny to ongoing member concerns about the Labor-majority council's direction under Cr Nelmes and a long public feud between the lord mayor and Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery over the management of council pools and other issues.
The Herald reported last month that Adamstown branch member Paige Johnson would head up a ticket challenging councillor Carol Duncan.
Beresfield branch secretary Tahlia Kelso announced on Thursday that she had nominated in ward four on a ticket with Mary Harrington and Julie Davies.
Newcastle Labor local government committee member Sandra Feltham, who lives at Mayfield, has nominated in ward one against deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen on a ticket with Shirley Schulz-Robinson and Lezlie Tilley.
Dr Kerridge is also involved in a ward-three ticket, headed by Linda Barter, which will challenge incumbents Margaret Wood and Peta Winney-Baartz.
"There are multiple reasons I'm running," he said.
"People have differing opinions in the party."
Ms Johnson, Ms Kelso and Ms Feltham have sought to distance themselves from talk of dissatisfaction with the incumbent Labor councillors.
"We're standing for preselection because we love Newcastle and want to see it thrive," Ms Kelso said.
"We believe that new faces, experiences and ideas are what is needed to keep this city moving forward while ensuring that council's core responsibilities to its residents receive priority no matter which suburb they live in.
"Above all else we believe in transparency and accountability and are ready to do the hard work to fight for the needs of Newcastle residents."
Ms Kelso said her candidacy was not motivated by disaffection with the incumbent council, but she was focused on securing "equitable" spending in ward four, especially in Beresfield, Maryland, Fletcher and Minmi.
"We just want to focus on more resourcing and facilities for those areas," she said.
Ms Kelso, who lives at Beresfield, has written letters to the Herald opposing the private operation of council pools.
"I am firmly against privatisation of any kind, and I think the ward four community has been very vocal about the pool privatisations," she said.
Ms Feltham said supporting the physical, mental and social wellbeing of residents was her key issue.
"We [the new candidates] have a range of backgrounds but are connected through our belief in the principles of social justice and service to the community," she said.
"Local government has a responsibility to provide day-to-day services that residents require to live well.
"We do not take this responsibility for granted; in fact, we are driven by it."
The incumbent Labor councillors preserved their majority at the 2021 election and Cr Nelmes defeated independent challenger John Church by almost 15,000 votes.
