On 12 April the Newcastle Herald reported that Lord Mayor Dr Ross Kerridge accused City of Newcastle staff of waging "an insidious campaign of bullying" against his wife. This was based on a social media post made by the Lord Mayor on 12 April 2025. The social media post itself was a response to an earlier Newcastle Herald article about the use of the title Lady Mayoress. The Lord Mayor has now deleted this post.
''My social media post was a response to the article in the Newcastle Herald about the use of the title Lady Mayoress. It was in the context of a difficult and challenging first 6 months for both of us. It was not my intention to allege that council staff have bullied myself and Mrs Kerridge and I sincerely apologise for that.
"I retract what I said and have deleted my post."
"I am excited and passionate about Newcastle's future and am keen to get on with the job representing the Newcastle community."
"I recognise that some members of the community use 'Lady Mayoress' by tradition however we don't actively seek to use it."
