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2024 North East mayoral election

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2024 North East mayoral election
2 May 2024 2028 →
  File:Paul Donaghy 2.jpg
Candidate Paul Donaghy Jamie Driscoll Andrew Gray
Party Reform UK Independent Green
 
Candidate Aidan King Kim McGuinness Guy Renner-Thompson
Party Liberal Democrats Labour Conservative
Area covered by the mayor.
Incumbent mayor

Jamie Driscoll (as mayor of North of Tyne)
Labour



The 2024 North East mayoral election is due to be held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of the North East. The election will take place the same day as council elections within the region, as well as local elections across England and Wales.

Background

The North East Mayoral Combined Authority is due to come into existence 4 days after the completion of this election on the 6th of May 2024.[1] The authority will replace the North of Tyne Mayoral Combined Authority and the North East Combined Authority.[1]

The mayoral combined authority has a budget and powers relating to growth, adult education and skills, housing and regeneration.[2]

Electoral system

This election will be the first to use first-past-the-post to elect the mayor as a result of the changes made by the Elections Act 2022.

All registered electors living in the North East aged 18 or over on 2 May 2024 will be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. Those who are temporarily away from the North East (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) will also be entitled to vote in the mayoral election. The deadline to register to vote in the election will be announced nearer the election.

Campaign

Tyneside was suggested as a potential location for another barge like Bibby Stockholm to be used to house asylum-seekers. The Labour candidate Kim McGuinness and the independent candidate Jamie Driscoll both said they opposed any such proposals.[3]

On transport, Driscoll proposed a "total transport network" covering buses and the Tyne and Wear Metro. This would mean he would "take the buses back under public control, open new rail routes around the region, integrate public transport and make one ticket for rail, bus and metro and lower fare, making them free altogether for under 18s".[4] McGuinness said she would get public control of buses and "build new railway infrastructure". The Conservative candidate Guy Renner-Thompson said he would turn the A1 road into a dual carriageway.[2]

Driscoll said he would work to achieve full employment in the region. McGuinness proposed a "mayoral development corporation to drive green energy investment in the North East's ports and rivers". Renner-Thompson said he would remove Newcastle's Clean Air Zone, which local authorities said the mayor would not be able to do. The Green Party candidate Andrew Grey said he would improve housing installation.[2] The Liberal Democrat candidate Aidan King said he would "build the UK’s largest on-shore wind farm" and buy low quality farmland in "every town and village" to build modern housing.[5]

Tony Gillan in the Sunderland Echo highlighted that most of the candidates were from or closely associated with Newcastle rather than other parts of the region.[6]

Candidates

Labour Party

Four candidates were nominated. Serving North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll. PCC Kim McGuinness. Former MEP Paul Brannen. Newcastle City Councillor Nicu Ion.[7]

Driscoll was elected to Newcastle City Council in 2018 to represent Monument ward.[8] Driscoll stood for selection to be Labour's candidate in the 2019 North of Tyne mayoral election, defeating Newcastle council leader Nick Forbes in February 2019.[9] He ran as the more radical candidate after being supported by left-wing figures, including shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, Noam Chomsky, Paul Mason, Clive Lewis and Laura Pidcock. He also had organisational support from Unite the Union, RMT, Fire Brigades Union, TSSA and Aslef.[10]

Driscoll ran on a platform with five primary pledges: Community Wealth Building, Green Industrial Revolution, Setting up Community Hubs, Building Affordable Homes, and Meaningful Adult Education, winning the 2019 North of Tyne mayoral election with 56.1% of the vote.[11][12]His role was due to be subsumed by the new North East mayoralty.[13]

McGuinness was elected Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner in 2019. She had served on Newcastle City Council since 2015. She said that everything she would fund as mayor would need to contribute to ending child poverty.[14] She also proposed a £1-per-night hotel levy to raise money to invest in culture and events.[15] She is considered to be aligned with Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.

Brannen served as an MEP for North East England from 2014 to 2019. He said he would use green industry to achieve full employment in the region.[16]

Nicu Ion is a maths teacher who was first elected to Newcastle City Council in 2021, becoming the first Roma migrant to be elected in the UK.[17]

In June 2023, Driscoll was barred from the selection process to determine a Labour Party candidate for Mayor of the North East. The controversial decision was defended by Starmer-ally Baroness Chapman of Darlington as "simply guaranteeing the highest quality candidates". Unite the Union and its general secretary, Sharon Graham, criticised the decision to exclude Driscoll. Andy Burnham, and Steve Rotheram described the Labour Party as undemocratic, opaque and unfair. Aditya Chakrabortty wrote in The Guardian that Driscoll was a "victim of McCarthyism".[13][18] He resigned from Labour and has since announced he will fight the 2024 North East mayoral election as an independent.[19]

Subsequently, 11 of 22 constituency Labour parties in the region refused to endorse any mayoral candidate in protest.[14]

Ion was not shortlisted, leaving members to choose between Brannen and McGuinness.[20] McGuinness won selection with 76% of the vote. However, the number of votes in the selection contest was never published, unlike the 2019 selection. A Labour source said under 50% of eligible party members voted.[14]

On the 17 July 2023, Labour announced it had selected McGuinness as its candidate for mayor.[21]

Candidate Votes %
Kim McGuinness
76%
Paul Brannen
24%

Independent

Jamie Driscoll, the mayor of the North of Tyne, left the Labour Party after being excluded from the party's selection of a North East mayoral candidate.[22] He will sit as an independent for the remainder of his term.[22] He said he would run as an independent candidate for the North East mayoralty if he could raise £25,000 in campaign funds, which he did in two hours.[23] Five Labour councillors resigned from their party to support Driscoll.[24]

Conservative

Charlie Hoult, who was the Conservative candidate in the 2019 North of Tyne mayoral election, said he would not seek his party's selection and that he hoped the candidates would be more diverse than in the 2019 election.[25] On the 26th November 2023, it was announced that Guy Renner-Thompson, the children's and education chief for Northumberland County Council would be the Conservative Party candidate for the election.[26]

Liberal Democrats

Dr Aidan King's plan for the north east region is to build europes largest wind farm. This area will be a mayoralty developement area streaching from newton aycliffe inland to barnard castle and up through hexham, the northumberland national park will be excluded as it is not the remit of the mayoralty. Using investment powers granted in section 41 of the devolution deal the mayoralty will invest in economically productive onshore wind turbines throughout this area with the permission and leasing agreements of the land owners. This will unlock vast funding streams.

The onshore turbine building capacity will be built at Blyth at the site of the defunct 95 hectare gigaplant. There private investment will be attracted to build the masts, blades and turbine of the onshore capacity, there is no other onshore capacity in the UK. Power transformers will also be needed and private investment for building of these at blyth will also be sought.

The second stage of developement will involve the income stream from the North East Strategic Energy Asset. This will first be used for the re-instating of the Leam side line. Along this there will be another industrial hub developed and new housing on green field sites.

Green Party

Andrew Gray, an archivist at Durham University, was announced as the Green Party candidate in December 2023.[27]

Reform UK

Paul Donaghy, a councillor on Sunderland City Council, was announced as the Reform UK candidate in January 2024.[28] He had defected from the Conservative Party in 2023.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b "North East devolution deal". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  2. ^ a b c Holland, Daniel (2023-12-30). "North East mayoral election 2024 - candidates and big campaign issues explained". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  3. ^ "Election rivals vow to oppose plans to bring 'inhumane' asylum barges to North East". The Northern Echo. 2023-08-10. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  4. ^ Jobson, James (2024-01-19). "Jamie Driscoll makes his election bid for Berwick". North East Bylines. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  5. ^ "Liberal Democrats and Reform UK announce candidates for North East mayoral election".
  6. ^ "A 'North East' mayor will be great for Sunderland - honest".
  7. ^ "Labour: Jamie Driscoll blocked from North East mayoral list". BBC News. 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  8. ^ Seddon, Sean (2019-02-20). "Who is Jamie Driscoll? Labour's left-wing North of Tyne mayoral candidate". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  9. ^ "Driscoll beats his own council's leader to Labour nomination for the first North of Tyne mayor". www.publicsectorexecutive.com. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  10. ^ "Labour members pick 'socialist' for mayoral vote ahead of established candidate". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 2019-02-20. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  11. ^ "Home". Jamie Driscoll, North of Tyne Mayor. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  12. ^ "Mayoral Election Results". NTCA. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  13. ^ a b Pidd, Helen (2023-06-04). "Labour mayors say party undemocratic for blocking Jamie Driscoll's candidacy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  14. ^ a b c Holland, Daniel (2023-07-17). "Labour confirms Kim McGuinness as candidate for North East mayor election". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  15. ^ "Kim McGuinness proposes new hotel guest levy to kickstart new era in North East". Hexham Courant. 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  16. ^ "'Green revolution' promised by Northeast's potential mayor". Hexham Courant. 2023-06-23. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  17. ^ Holland, Daniel (2023-06-07). "Rival has 'no say' over Jamie Driscoll exclusion from Labour contest". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  18. ^ Chakrabortty, Aditya (2023-06-08). "Notes on a scandal: this is how Starmer's bullies took out Jamie Driscoll – and why it matters". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  19. ^ "Jamie Driscoll tweet". X (Twitter at the time). 17 July 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  20. ^ Robinson, James (2023-06-16). "Labour unveils two-candidate shortlist in North East mayoral race". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  21. ^ "Kim McGuinness: Labour selects PCC as North East mayor candidate". BBC News. 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  22. ^ a b "Jamie Driscoll quits Labour Party with swipe at Sir Keir Starmer". Sky News. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  23. ^ Sparrow, Andrew (2023-07-17). "Jamie Driscoll to stand as independent candidate for north-east mayor after quitting Labour and raising £30,000 – as it happened". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  24. ^ Pidd, Helen (2023-07-24). "'Labour are scared': north-east party members quit to back Jamie Driscoll in mayoral vote". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  25. ^ Holland, Daniel (2023-01-05). "Ex-Tory candidate rules out bid to become North East mayor". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  26. ^ "Northumberland councillor Guy Renner-Thompson named as Conservative candidate for North East mayoral race".
  27. ^ Holland, Daniel (2023-12-09). "Green Party joins North East mayoral election race with Andrew Gray announced as latest candidate". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  28. ^ "Reform UK names Paul Donaghy as North East mayoral candidate". BBC News. 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
  29. ^ "Reform UK announces mayor candidate". Hexham Courant. 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
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