2024 North East mayoral election

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2024 North East mayoral election
2 May 2024 2028 →
 
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.


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 four days after this election, on 6 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] He also proposed "on demand" bus services for rural areas.[5] McGuinness said she would get public control of buses and "build new railway infrastructure".[2] The Conservative candidate Guy Renner-Thompson said he would turn the A1 road into a dual carriageway.[2] He supported integrating bus and rail transport but opposed public ownership. The Reform UK candidate Paul Donaghy proposed 50% public ownership of public transport. The Green Party candidate Andrew Gray said he supported 15-minute city principles that would reduce demand for transport.[6]

Newcastle implemented a Clean Air Zone in the city centre in 2022. Renner-Thompson said he would remove it, which local authorities said the mayor would not be able to do.[2] The Reform UK candidate Paul Donaghy, Driscoll and McGuinness all criticised the model, saying that public transport was a better way of improving air quality. The Green Party candidate Andrew Gray and the Liberal Democrat candidate Aidan King both supported the use of Clean Air Zones.[7]

The Conservative UK government proposed using money that had been planned for High Speed 2 to re-open the Leamside line, estimated to cost close to £2 billion. They later said that the combined authority could fund it. Renner Thompson said that the suggested cost was far too high for "some metal rails on some gravel". Driscoll and McGuinness said they were seeking central government funding for the estimated £20 million cost of producing a business case to reopen the railway.[8]

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". Grey said he would improve housing installation.[2] King said he would "build the UK's largest on-shore wind farm", revenue from which would fund public transport investment, and buy low quality farmland in "every town and village" to build modern housing.[6][9]

A film company proposed establishing a large film studio in the region contingent on public funding. McGuinness said that the UK government should supply the necessary funding, while Renner-Thompson said he would use combined authority funds to support the proposal.[10]

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.[11]

Driscoll was endorsed by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.[12]

Candidates

Independent

mayor of the North of Tyne, left the Labour Party after being excluded from the party's selection of a North East mayoral candidate.[13] He will sit as an independent for the remainder of his term.[13] 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.[14] Five Labour councillors resigned from their party to support Driscoll.[15]

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.[16]

Driscoll was elected to Newcastle City Council in 2018 to represent Monument ward.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19]

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.[20][21]His role was due to be subsumed by the new North East mayoralty.[22]

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.[23] She also proposed a £1-per-night hotel levy to raise money to invest in culture and events.[24] 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.[25]

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.[26]

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".[22][27] It was understood that the decision was based on appearing at an event with Ken Loach.[28] He later resigned from Labour and has since announced he will fight the 2024 North East mayoral election as an independent.[29]

Subsequently, 11 of 22 constituency Labour parties in the region refused to endorse any mayoral candidate in protest.[23]

Ion was not shortlisted, leaving members to choose between Brannen and McGuinness.[30] 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.[23]

On 17 July 2023, Labour announced it had selected McGuinness as its candidate for mayor.[31]

Candidate Votes %
Kim McGuinness
76%
Paul Brannen
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.[32] On 26 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.[33]

Liberal Democrats

Aidan King, an NHS doctor at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary,[34] former Newcastle City Councillor and candidate for the European Parliament, was selected as the Liberal Democrats candidate.[35] He was their candidate in Stockton North in the 2019 General Election.

Green Party

Andrew Gray, an archivist at Durham University, was announced as the Green Party candidate in December 2023.[36]

Reform UK

Paul Donaghy, a councillor on Sunderland City Council, was announced as the Reform UK candidate in January 2024.[37] He had defected from the Conservative Party in 2023.[38]

Opinion polling

Dates
conducted 		Pollster Sample
size 		McGuinness
Lab 		Driscoll
Ind 		Donaghy
Reform 		Renner-Thompson
Con 		Gray
Green 		King
Lib Dems 		Lead
19–24 April 2024 More in Common 1,808 35% 33% 14% 11% 4% 4% 2

On 28 April, the pollster More in Common released opinion polling placing McGuinness and Driscoll as the forerunners, stating "a win from either candidate would be well within the margin of error."

They cited the 2019 Conservative vote fragmenting and Driscoll voters saying they are more likely to turn out than McGuinness voters as the cause of the independent vote, describing the race as a "dead heat."[39]

Election result

2024 North East mayoral election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform UK Paul Donaghy
Independent Jamie Driscoll
Green Andrew Gray
Liberal Democrats Aidan King
Labour Kim McGuinness
Conservative Guy Renner-Thompson
Majority
Turnout

References

  1. ^ a b "North East devolution deal". GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e Holland, Daniel (30 December 2023). "North East mayoral election 2024 - candidates and big campaign issues explained". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Election rivals vow to oppose plans to bring 'inhumane' asylum barges to North East". The Northern Echo. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  4. ^ Jobson, James (19 January 2024). "Jamie Driscoll makes his election bid for Berwick". North East Bylines. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  5. ^ Robinson, James (6 March 2024). "'The buses need to make sense' - Rural transport issues discussed at debate". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b Robinson, James (7 March 2024). "'Integrated' transport system at the heart of pledges at mayoral hustings event". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  7. ^ Robinson, James (7 March 2024). "Mayoral candidates clash over clean air zones and car use". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  8. ^ Holland, Daniel (30 November 2023). "Tory mayor candidate questions 'completely ridiculous' Leamside Line price tag". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Liberal Democrats and Reform UK announce candidates for North East mayoral election".
  10. ^ Gillan, Tony. "A Conservative North East mayor would 'support Crown Works film studios in Sunderland' with cash".
  11. ^ "A 'North East' mayor will be great for Sunderland - honest".
  12. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Jamie Driscoll quits Labour Party with swipe at Sir Keir Starmer". Sky News. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  14. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  15. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Labour: Jamie Driscoll blocked from North East mayoral list". BBC News. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  17. ^ Seddon, Sean (20 February 2019). "Who is Jamie Driscoll? Labour's left-wing North of Tyne mayoral candidate". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Driscoll beats his own council's leader to Labour nomination for the first North of Tyne mayor". www.publicsectorexecutive.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  19. ISSN 0307-1235
    . Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  20. ^ "Home". Jamie Driscoll, North of Tyne Mayor. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Mayoral Election Results". NTCA. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  22. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  23. ^ a b c Holland, Daniel (17 July 2023). "Labour confirms Kim McGuinness as candidate for North East mayor election". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  24. ^ "Kim McGuinness proposes new hotel guest levy to kickstart new era in North East". Hexham Courant. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  25. ^ "'Green revolution' promised by Northeast's potential mayor". Hexham Courant. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  26. ^ Holland, Daniel (7 June 2023). "Rival has 'no say' over Jamie Driscoll exclusion from Labour contest". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  27. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  28. ^ Holland, Daniel (4 June 2023). "Jamie Driscoll hits out after Labour block mayoral campaign over Ken Loach event". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  29. ^ "Jamie Driscoll tweet". X (Twitter at the time). 17 July 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  30. ^ Robinson, James (16 June 2023). "Labour unveils two-candidate shortlist in North East mayoral race". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  31. ^ "Kim McGuinness: Labour selects PCC as North East mayor candidate". BBC News. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  32. ^ Holland, Daniel (5 January 2023). "Ex-Tory candidate rules out bid to become North East mayor". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  33. ^ "Northumberland councillor Guy Renner-Thompson named as Conservative candidate for North East mayoral race".
  34. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-67990925
  35. ^ "North East Mayor election: Meet the candidates who are standing for the role".
  36. ^ Holland, Daniel (9 December 2023). "Green Party joins North East mayoral election race with Andrew Gray announced as latest candidate". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  37. ^ "Reform UK names Paul Donaghy as North East mayoral candidate". BBC News. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  38. ^ "Reform UK announces mayor candidate". Hexham Courant. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  39. ^ "North East: Poll suggests a dead-heat between McGuinness and Driscoll". More in Common. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
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