Goats and toddlers don't mix!

 

I was asked recently by the Whinnies Wanderers, a toddler group based at the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside, to bring along one of our goats to their gathering on Thursday last week. I took Nettle and we settled down in the corner of the garden. Shortly afterwards I realised that the choice of a fully grown goat was not so good. Though some children were happy to stand next to Nettle and pet her, many of them kept their distance. It was hardly surprising looking back on it. Nettle is twice the height of some of the children! Next time I will take goat babies rather than goat adults.

Flash in the pan or a sign of things to come?

There was a by-election in Benfieldshire ward of Durham County Council yesterday. Reform were defending the seat, having taken it from Labour in the May local elections. Back then, Labour had scored a near-death performance in what had, until 4 years ago, been one of their safest councils in the country. Labour were downsized from over 50 members to a miserable 4. The cause of the by-election was a self-inflicted wound for Reform: their candidate was disqualified from standing as he works for the council. It seems that no one in Reform had bothered to check. Vetting candidates was clearly not a priority. The subsequent election of the Reform candidate meant an inevitable by-election.

The result was:

• Lib Dem 824
• Labour 800
• Reform 747
• Independent 459
• Conservative 76
• Green 40

So what can we make of this? Reform's fall from 1st to 3rd place stands out but so does Labour's failure to capitalise on Reform's local difficulties.  That benefit has gone to the Lib Dems who shot up from a distant 3rd place to top the poll and seize the seat. Reform's poor performance may be due to local voters having sampled Reform in power and deciding they didn't like it. Afterall, there have been no outstandingly good performances by any Reform controlled council since May. They have nothing positive to show for their 2 months being in charge. People who voted for them may well be feeling disappointed with Reform.

But is this a flash in the pan or a sign of things to come? Was this by-election a one off (or a two off given Reform lost a seat to the Tories in Newark last night) or has the Reform tide started to turn? We can't answer that question for sure now but over the coming months we will get a better view of how things are going.

Filming for the royal connection to Gateshead

 

I journeyed to London on Sunday for a couple of days of history related activities. I'm working on a history talk about John Nash, the Georgian and Regency architect who designed Buckingham Palace, Regent Street and a long list of other buildings. One of his biggest projects outside London was the building of Ravensworth Castle in Gateshead. Nash designed the Marble Arch which was installed as the entrance to Buckingham Palace but which was later moved to Hyde Park.

I had tried to film Marble Arch last year on a visit to London but when I got there, it was covered in tarpaulins. On Monday I was able to film it in all its glory apart from a few heras frames. Some of the footage will feature in my talk. 

I was also able to go to the National Liberal Club for a Lib Dem History Group meeting about the Liberal/Lib Dem involvement in both European referendum campaigns. 

Sadly, the visit to London was only two days long. Duty called back home.

Visiting Dunston fair

 

My attendance at local fairs normally entails the bringing of a goat. I'm regularly asked to take a goat, or other animal, to local fairs. On Saturday last week, I wasn't asked by the organiser of the Dunston fair (Labour Councillor for Dunston and Teams Brenda Clelland) to bring any of my 4 legged friends so I brought a two legged one instead, in the form of Cllr Peter Maughan! Good time had by all. Thanks for the ice cream Peter!

In at the deep end

 Last week I went to the Gateshead Lib Dem pool night at the Lock and Quay pub on the Gateshead Quays, next to the Swing Bridge. I have not played pool for over 30 years and this was reflected in my one miserable attempt to win a game (I came second, out of 2!) Still, it was quite a fun night out. It showed that being in the Lib Dems was not all about meetings, delivering Focuses and knocking on doors. Nevertheless, it did feel as though I had been dropped into the deep end (that's enough puns on the word 'pool', thank you.)

Well done Beamish

 

I'm delighted to learn that Beamish Museum have been named Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025. The award brings with it a useful £120,000. Beamish, only a short distance from where I live, preserves the history of the North East and has recently added more to the 1950s and Georgian areas of the Museum. Well done to everyone who made the award possible.

I filmed the video above on my last visit to Beamish. I'm due to visit again soon.

"Has anyone ever told you you're a giggling imbecile?"

 

Meet James Walker-Gurley, newly elected Councillor for Reform in Nottinghamshire and cabinet member for economic development and asset management. Now watch the above video, courtesy of Political Custard. This has to be one of the most stand-out car crash interviews in recent history. He giggled through most of a media interview, cluelessly admitted he could not answer some questions about his portfolio and then read a prepared script (presumably written by officers) and stumbled on some of the big words.

Should we feel sorry for him for being dropped by his colleagues into a role for which he is clearly out of his depth? Or do we just assume Reform had no one better to appoint.

I am however reminded of the line from Lady White Adder in the second series of the BBC's Blackadder. "Has anyone ever told you you're a giggling imbecile?" she said to Lord Percy. The same question could be asked of Cllr Walker-Giggle!

Guest chicks at the Whinnies Wanderers

 

Whinnies Wanderers are a group of parents and pre-school children based at the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside. Earlier this week, they invited me to bring some of our recently hatched chicks for the children to see. The good news is that they want me back next week. I will be bringing a goat instead!

Bridges action day

 

Gateshead Lib Dems held an action day in Bridges ward today. Once a Labour stronghold, last year they clung on by only 65 votes over us in a by-election in the ward. Our aim today was to deliver the latest Focus - and other than a handful of streets, we achieved what we set out to do, thanks to 15 members turning up to help. Lunch at the Tesco Cafe afterwards!

Labour councillor missing in action

 

This is the latest video from Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition in Gateshead, Cllr Ron Beadle, talking about the Labour councillor elected in September last year and who, due to his health, has not attended any meetings. Labour have voted to let him avoid attending any meetings until May next year, rather than hold a by-election.

What's going on in Newcastle?

Until recently, Labour had a commanding majority on Newcastle City Council. Now, they are a minority administration which, this week, lost a key vote on plans for the city in the years ahead. Though they have lost some seats in recent local elections, the biggest wrecking ball applied to Labour's majority has actually come from within Labour itself.

Over the river in Gateshead, we are rather used to a bipolar political system in the council chamber. Labour and the Lib Dems hold all the seats other than one councillor who was elected as Labour but went independent in September last year. No other parties are represented on the council. Indeed, the last time there was a Conservative on Gateshead Council was back in 1996. His seat went Lib Dem in that year.

Back over the Tyne to Newcastle and there is a kaleidoscope of parties on the council including Labour, Lib Dems (the official opposition), one Conservative, Greens, Newcastle Independents and the East End and Associates Independent Party. This latter group is made up of the former Labour Leader Nick Kemp and six former Labour councillors. It is all something of a mess as Labour tries to run the authority without a majority while their former comrades are taking shots at them.

There are all-out local elections next year in the city under new boundaries which are probably not favourable to Labour. Whether or not the Labour administration can survive the next 11 months without collapsing is the big unanswered question.