The mayor is non-political as long as they are Labour

Gateshead Council is 45 years old. There have been 45 appointments of mayors of the borough made in that time. Every single one of them has been Labour. Gateshead is one of the few councils that does not rotate the mayoralty around the parties represented on the Council (in Gateshead two parties have councillors - Lib Dems and Labour). To be fair to Labour in Gateshead, the Leader of the Opposition does have a role to play - but that is simply to second the vote of thanks at the annual council meeting to the outgoing (Labour) mayor. But no longer. I made it clear to Labour that I was no longer willing to do this as Leader of the Opposition if there is no rotation of the mayor.

We have been told by Labour that they have a monopoly of the mayoralty because the mayor is "non-political". Indeed, because we raised this issue, Labour accused us of politicising the Mayor. They were not pleased at the annual meeting when we put forward our own candidate for mayor, Cllr John McClurey. Martin Gannon, Labour leader of the Council, even interrupted me when I was nominating John to have a go at us for spoiling their little Labour jamboree.

The new mayor is not exactly new to the role. Lamesley Councillor Michael Hood has already served once as mayor. As for his Labour deputy, Dot Burnett, she was only elected as a councillor in May last year.

On the plus side, the last mayor, Jill Green, ended her term of office by crashing to defeat in the local elections this year. We took her seat with a majority of 500. The mayor in 2016-17, Allison Thompson, lost her seat to the Lib Dems last year. I think it's time to dust down those campaign plans for Lamesley ward!

Not seen for 38 years!

A very interesting poll of people's general election voting intentions was published by The Times last night. The downside was that The Brexit Party were on 22% and in 2nd place. The upside is that the Lib Dems are in first place on 24%. Sky News this morning said that the last time the Lib Dems were in the lead in terms of general election voting intention was in 2010 during the general election. I can't recall this at all and I suspect what they are actually referring to was a poll on the performance of the party leaders after the leader debates when Cleggmania was at its peak.

Personally, I have to go back to 1981 for the last time the Lib Dems (then the Alliance) were ahead in the polls. The SDP had just been launched and I was a founder member. The poll lead however did not last and the Conservatives were returned at the 1983 general election with a landslide majority, assisted by the Falklands War and a meltdown in the Labour Party.

Whether or not what is happening now - Lib Dems resurgent while the Nigel Farage fan club has moved home from UKIP to The Brexit Party with Labour and Conservatives in meltdown - will become a permanent fixture is an interesting question which has no clear answer, at least not yet. Nevertheless, we should enjoy it while it lasts and keep on recruiting new members to the Lib Dems - 11,000 have joined this month so far.

Labour's unhappy headlines

Front page of the Journal, our morning newspaper here in the North East, was not good reading for Labour today. Apparently, their drubbing in the European elections has kicked off a civil war in their ranks. I merely post a photo of the Journal for the enjoyment of readers. Given the large number of Labour members who read this blog, I guess the enjoyment is all with me!

Video: back to school with the goats

Earlier this month I was invited to take some of our goats to Whickham School so the children could pet them. This was part of the schools work for Mental Health Awareness Week. The event was a success with hundreds of children visiting the animals. The video above covers the event up to the point just before the children arrive.

I've woken up in a parallel universe

Yesterday the world was as it normally is: politics dominated by the two old parties. I woke up this morning and found I am in a parallel universe. The two old parties have been destroyed, the Lib Dems are resurgent and a hideous monster party has topped the polls. Some good bits and some bad bits in this unfamiliar parallel reality.

Congratulations to the team of Lib Dem MEPs whose numbers have increased from one to sixteen. Sadly, Fiona Hall is not one of them. Here in the North East, the bar we need to cross is so much higher as the region has only three seats. That has normally worked to Labour's advantage. Yesterday it worked to the advantage of the Brexit Party. Labour (Britain's new third party) however held one of their seats.

I attended the count in Gateshead and the result was very much as I expected, The only difference was that the Lib Dems were closer to Labour than I expected. Less than 3000 votes separated us from the Corbynistas.

Meanwhile, Sky have added up the votes for the clear Remain and Brexit parties. They calculate that the Lib Dems, Change UK, PC, SNP and Greens are on 38%, Brexit and UKIP on 37%. YouGov suggest 40% and 35% respectively. Very good news for Remain.

Losing it at full council

We had another incident on Thursday at Gateshead's full council meeting of the Labour Leader Martin Gannon losing self-control. He launched a tirade at the Lib Dem group and totally lost his temper in doing so. He needs to calm down because further repeats of these temper tantrums are not good either for Gateshead or for him. 

As for why he loses his temper, I suspect there are two factors at work. Firstly, for the first time since the start of the Coalition, the Lib Dems are electorally hurting Labour in Gateshead. In the local elections earlier this month, the mayor and the head of office of Liz Twist MP both went down to heavy defeat. Secondly, I hear the vultures are starting to circle on his own side.

Changing the Leader changes nothing

I got home at lunchtime to the news that the long awaited announcement of the departure of Theresa May had been made. Politics is a brutal world. Those sticking the knife into the PM's back had let go of the handle long enough to take to Twitter to praise her courage and determination. The next few weeks will be dominated by the assassins trying to finish each other off in the contest for the Tory leadership. But what will it change? The Parliamentary arithmetic is still the same. The EU aren't going to renegotiate the deal. Tories and Labour will still be split. Parliament will still reject No Deal (though it is questionable as to whether, without government support, MPs can stop No Deal Brexit taking place.) There could be a general election but with the Conservatives heading for meltdown at the European elections, would they dare risk going to the country?

Bizarrely, the way out of the mess for the Conservatives is a People's Vote. I'm not sure however whether they realise that to be the case.

How did it go in Gateshead?

I am picking up on social media straws in the wind about how the parties did yesterday in the European election in the North East. Talk is of the Brexit Party being ahead, Labour vote down significantly and behind the Lib Dems and the Conservatives out of the race in different areas of the region. So this is my penny's worth about Gateshead: Brexit well in the lead with Labour well back in 2nd place. The Lib Dems are in a respectable 3rd place. All other parties were in contention for last place.

We will know on Sunday.

Just voted

I called into Sunniside Social Club at 11am to vote in the European Parliament elections. I was struck as I walked there by the thought that I was about to take part in one of the biggest exercises in democracy on the planet. Yet many of those who support Brexit claim the EU is undemocratic. How they square this claim with the likely result of the Brexit Party taking part in and finishing today's election as the party with the most votes would undoubtedly make for an interesting display of political contortion and the rewriting of the meaning of the word "democracy".

Anyway, I voted Lib Dem, unsurprisingly!

Gateshead East branch meeting

I was in Heworth Golf Club tonight to go to the Gateshead East Lib Dems branch to give my group leader's report. We also had a wide ranging discussion about the local election campaign and then moved on to the election campaign for next year. We are drawing up campaign plans for the year ahead but we are also considering proposals for which wards should be our targets for 2020. We have a draft list of six wards (in addition to the five  we will be defending). Busy times ahead.

Buzzing

At this time of year, many local residents contact me about bees. Most have bumble bees in their back gardens and call me as councillor and also as a beekeeper for advice. I always advise people to ignore the bees. Generally speaking, the bees will ignore people if their nest is not threatened. Typically, the nest will die out through the late summer.

Lots of people put up nesting boxes but are then surprised to discover bumble bees have moved into them, instead of birds. They make ideal nesting sites for bees. So occasionally, I will remove a bird box containing bees for them and relocate it to a place of safety. The nest box pictured above was above the patio doors of a house in Whickham. I moved it on Sunday evening and it is now on the fence on one of my allotments. Tomorrow evening I will be doing the same when I remove a nest box full of bumble bees from a house in Sunniside.

All in a day's work!

Helping hand from a Labour member

Gateshead Lib Dems were contacted recently by a Labour activist unhappy with Labour policy on Europe and the Brexit tone of it. Like the Lib Dems, this person, who, to protect from either being expelled from Labour or generally hung out to dry by them, is not being named by me but offered to deliver some of our European campaign leaflets. This person has now delivered 300 for us.

I have seen on social media that lots of ex-MPs of a variety of political persuasions have announced they are voting Lib Dem in the European elections. Our news from Gateshead is our modest addition to this growing trend. Hopefully there will be more to follow.

Delivering in Birtley

We are heading back to the polls this week and so today I was in Birtley to help our ward candidate Paul Elliott to deliver a few hundred postcards calling on people to vote Lib Dem on Thursday. Job done in two hours. I still have lots to deliver in various places in Gateshead by 23rd May.

Not getting carried away with opinion polls but....

I am too long in the tooth to get excited by opinion polls. I've seen lots before that have predicted one outcome but we end up with something else. The trend in recent polls is for a Lib Dem rise, a collapse in the Conservatives' ratings, and Labour slipping badly. Sadly, the Brexit Party is in the lead, and by a significant margin.

But, putting aside the Brexit Party, and taking the polls with a great deal of salt, the fun of seeing the Conservatives and Labour squirm at the sight of the Lib Dems doing well is a moment to be savoured. Sadly, such delights don't always last long. The European Election results may or may not come up to expectation but in the meantime, I am going to enjoy the polls and the Lab/Con discomfort.

Thank you Dave

Gateshead Lib Dem exec was held on Wednesday evening. We had a good discussion about the local election campaign and we provisionally agreed six more target wards. But the evening went to Dave Fawcett who was attending his last meeting as local party secretary. He stood down from the post he has held for many years due to health issues. We presented him with an engraved tankard and some bottles of craft beers. We wish him all the best in his  retirement.

Back to school

It is mental health awareness week and I was invited by Whickham School to take some of our goats in today for the children to pet, stroke, feed and generally enjoy the company of. The conclusion was that such activities with animals are good for children's mental health. This is the second year running we have taken in the goats. It looks like it was become an established event in the school calendar!

Lib Dem Cllr John McClurey to be nominated for Gateshead mayor

Below is the news release published by Gateshead Lib Dems tonight - tomorrow at the Council annual meeting we will be nominating Cllr John McClurey to be the first every non-Labour mayor of Gateshead.

Lib Dem Councillor proposed as first non-Labour mayor in Gateshead

Following on from the success of the Liberal Democrats in the local elections in Gateshead, the party will be proposing Cllr John McClurey as the first non-Labour mayor of the borough at the Council annual meeting on Friday 17^th May.

Since the Council was first established in 1974, every mayor has been from Labour. Most other councils share the mayorality around all the parties that have local representation. In Newcastle, for example, the post alternates between Labour and Lib Dems.

Have-a-go hero Cllr McClurey was elected to Gateshead Council in 2008. He had previously hit the headlines when he battled his way through smoke, fire and burning debris to help save a mum and her child in a house fire near his shop in Newcastle.

As a result of his actions, John was recognised for his bravery by the Royal Humane Society.

“It is a great honour to be proposed by the Lib Dem group to be mayor of Gateshead,” said John. “I’ve lived in the area all my life and I know I can make a strong contribution to civic life in Gateshead.”

Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Jonathan Wallace, said, “Gateshead has never had a non-Labour mayor before and we believe it is time that changed. Labour should follow the practice of their colleagues on most other councils and alternate the mayorality between the two parties represented on the Council.

“They need to back John so that the post is no longer restricted to the narrow views of the Labour Party.”

                   

Labour’s vote slumped to 44% in the local elections in Gateshead earlier this month. They lost two seats to the Lib Dems as well.

“After all, Labour no longer speaks for the majority in Gateshead,” said Jonathan. “It’s time for Gateshead’s mayor to be appointed on merit, rather than for political reasons.”

Ends

Pr190501

Notes to editors:

1)Press report on John McClurey saving occupants from house fire:

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/brave-man-fights-flames-reach-1470540

2)link to Royal Humane Society report on John McClurey’s bravery:

https://royalhumanesociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/AnnualReport2008.pdf

Labour's European Election leaflet

Labour's European Election freepost leaflet arrived today through my door. It seems Labour have little to say as there are some significant unused spaces in the leaflet. Helpfully, most of the front page is taken up with a photo of Jeremy Corbyn. That should scare the voters away from Labour (that was certainly what was happening during the local election.)

The bit about a confirmatory vote  reads, "If we can't get changes to their bad deal or a general election, Labour backs the option of a public vote." That's about as non-committal as you can get. Hardly surprising given Corbyn is a Brexiter.

Oh joy - a by-election!

It looks as though we are going to have to go onto election overdrive. It has been announced that Vera Baird, Labour Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, has been appointed as the new Victims Commissioner by the Conservative government. It means she will be vacating the PCC role. Oh joy, a by-election across the whole of Tyne and Wear and Northumberland.

I was the Lib Dem candidate in the last PCC election in 2016, held on the same day as the local elections. I campaigned on the basis that the PCC role should be abolished and its functions should be part of the powers of elected regional government. And then Labour fell apart in the North East over devolution with the North of Tyne going off to do their own thing and the South of Tyne left going nowhere. The devolution and PCC combination will have to be revised!

In the PCC election, there were 4 candidates (this was in the days of UKIP having a presence on the political landscape). I romped home in, errr, 4th place! However, I came second in both Gateshead and Newcastle, reflecting our stronger local government base there. We can now add Sunderland to the list of councils where we are growing significantly.

Personally, I think the vacancy should be left unfilled until next May when the next PCC election is due (on the same day as the local elections). That would save a huge amount of public money (and shoe leather!)

North East Lib Dem European Election video

North East Lib Dems have produced an excellent campaign video about the European election campaign and why people should vote Lib Dem on 23rd May. You can view it on this link.

Delivering in Ryton

While most people today were putting this sunny Sunday to good use at home, I was in Ryton delivering 500 leaflets in the Riverside Estate. Two hours of treading the streets and only one negative comment!

I still have quite a few hundred leaflets left to deliver elsewhere!

Low Fell eFocus no. 35

Just published by our Low Fell Focus Team, edition 35 of eFocus. This edition includes:

• Save the Hardman Centre
• Northumbria University's 'Making Low Fell Better' event a success
• Time running out to give your views on Tyne Tolls plan
• Low Fell's Summer Fayre

You can read eFocus on this link.

Be wary of projecting opinion polls

I have been in politics too long to be excited by opinion polls. Having seen stratospheric ratings for the SDP/Liberal Alliance in 1982, Lib Dem ratings within the margin of error of zero in 1989 after the Lib/SDP merger, poll ratings for the Lib Dems in the Blair years which were interpreted by Labour as the end of liberal democracy and 2010 poll ratings which overdid the Lib Dem vote, I tend to take them now with a large pinch of salt.

Opinion polls are guestimate snapshots. Useful for showing trends, getting an accurate prediction is something more challenging (remember the polls in 1992 and 2015). So, don't get carried away with polls this morning that put the Lib Dems ahead of the Conservatives in the European elections. Yes it is the case that the Brexit "Party" is almost certainly romping ahead of the field (but not with a majority of the votes) and Labour and especially the Conservatives are slipping badly. Yes, the Lib Dem vote is up a bit. But success also depends on having a party machine on the ground that can deliver victory.

The grassroots organisation of the Lib Dems is what ensured we survived the Coalition years. The same, but expanded, grassroots organisation delivered the big gains we made in the local elections earlier this month. The European elections are quite unique in that the need for a grassroots organisation to deliver a campaign is far, far less. As long as there is a list of candidates in each region, the rest of the campaign can be delivered from an office in London.

That advantage does not carry over to a general election in which 650 candidates and 650 agents are needed, as are 6500 signatures and lots of form filling, and that's without even thinking about a constituency campaign. So while the Brexit "Party" can mop up lots of votes in the European election, running a general election campaign that delivers the constituencies predicted as likely to go to them is a challenge which the Brexit "Party" will find extremely difficult to mount. Just look at the 2015 general election in which UKIP failed to win a single seat but scored a reasonable share of the vote.

My advisory note to Lib Dem colleagues is not to get carried away with rising poll ratings for the party. Effective targeting, as carried out in the local elections, is what wins elections.

And now I'm going to spend 2 hours of my Sunday lunchtime delivering 500 Lib Dem European election leaflets in Ryton.

Flying visit to Dunston Festival

After our European election leaflet delivery today, we popped into the Dunston Festival at Dunston UTC. Sadly, I couldn't stay long (but I was there long enough to get a burger!) as I had to drive Fiona Hall back to her car for her next event in Newcastle. It was good to see the Dunston Lib Dem Councillors at the festival as well (see photo above). Like me, all 3 had been delivering European election leaflets in the morning.

The next local fair is at Chase Park, Whickham, on 18th May.

European campaigning

Fiona Hall, the lead Lib Dem candidate for the North East in the European election, visited Gateshead today. Quite a few people turned up to help so we split into a number of teams. I took Fiona and two others to Festival Park to deliver the estate. From there we went to Windmill Hills in Bensham. Other teams delivered in Dunston, the Staiths Estate and Felling. Lots of leaflets went through letter boxes!

No escape from elections!

Just when we thought it was safe to go out after the local elections without a bundle of leaflets to deliver, we find we are in the middle of another election campaign. This weekend in Gateshead we are starting to deliver our first European election campaign leaflet. We will be hitting the streets of Felling and Teams. Fiona Hall, our lead candidate will be joining us as well.

So, just when my legs thought they'd be getting a rest, I'll be wearing out shoe leather instead!

Re-elected Leader

Gateshead Lib Dem group meeting tonight and the big contest was for the Leadership. It was a tough battle but I just scraped in! Alas, as an exercise in open democracy, there was a flaw in the process: I was the only candidate! Clearly group members don't yet want to send me off to the allotment, at least not yet! Thank you to my colleagues for their faith in me.

The Red Rose of Hypocrisy

Rosie Oxberry was first elected to Gateshead Council last year as a left wing "socialist" Labour member. Her first year on the Council can best be described as noticeable for being unnoticed. But Red Rose is something of a fan of Facebook. She seems to spend lots of time Facebooking. She visits my site regularly and is happy to post up comments which castigate both Lib Dems and Blair/Brown in equal measures. On the picture above, on the left is a screenshot of some comments on my page which support my assertion.

Then take a look at the screenshot on the right, from Labour's Facebook page "Our Ward", (Pelaw and Heworth represented by the Red Rose herself). Notice how she rather dislikes others writing on her page. As is so often the case, one rule for "socialists", a different one for everyone else.

So now for a bit of advice for Red Rose, from myself, relating to the spectacular defeat her ward colleague Jill Green suffered at the hands of the Lib Dems last week (Labour lost Pelaw and Heworth to us by 500 votes): spend less time on Facebook and more time campaigning if you want to hold your seat. From my point of view however, continue spending lots of time on Facebook and I look forward to seeing even more comments from you on my page!

Suits you sir!

The above was the Journal's coverage on Saturday of the Gateshead local election results. It was very thoughtful of them to include a big photo of me and completely ignore all winning Labour councillors. This photo of me speaking at council a few years ago is a favourite of the Journal. It is trotted out most times I'm quoted. Alas, the suit I am wearing in the photo is now a great deal more threadbare!

I gave up the rate race a decade ago to live the good life and avoid unnecessary consumerism and consumption of products we don't need. I am certainly no fan of throw away fashion so the suit in the photo, which I got shortly before I gave up the world of paid work, continues to be my only one. Sadly, I'm not sure it will last much longer.

Let's hope it lasts at least til Thursday however. I am in court then as a witness for Gateshead Council so I need to look smart!

Lobley Hill and Bensham

The results of the local elections in Gateshead last week were very encouraging and the feel was much like it was over a decade ago, before the Coalition. One ward result that stood out to me in particular was Lobley Hill and Bensham (LHB). In Gateshead our targeting strategy places each ward into one of various categories. LHB was in what we call the "developmental" level. In other word, this is a ward where we are building it up to be winnable. The aim this year was to have a good increase in our vote and to get into second place to be the main challenger to Labour.

Last year we were 4th and last, on 9% but this year our candidate Nick Seaborn took 18% and second place. The icing on the cake was Labour's vote: it was below 50%. Okay, it was just under 50% but nevertheless, more people voted against Labour than for them. LHB is a ward where Labour usually mope up a significant majority of the votes cast. Not so this year.

Gateshead Lib Dems will be drawing up the next stage of our campaign strategy shortly. LHB is one of a number of wards which could be promoted up the targeting scale. Watch this space!

eFocus edition 118

As I write this post, eFocus no. 118 for the Whickham area is in the pipeline due to be sent to people's inboxes in a few minutes. The lead story is the local election results, especially the gain of Dunston Hill and Whickham East by the Lib Dems from Labour. Local news stories include the Whickham festival in July, Marley Hill bowling green, Dunston Hill School and Whinnies Community Garden.

You can read eFocus on this link.

The Sunderland Count

Gateshead's local election counts took place on Friday so I was available to attend the Sunderland counts on Thursday evening. It was a fascinating experience watching Labour in meltdown. They were losing seats in all direction and those seats they did retain were all reduced to marginal status. Lib Dems held three seats though technically two were gains as they we defences of by-election gains. A further two seats were picked up from Labour. The most interesting was Doxford. We came from nowhere to win by a landslide.

The above video was filmed on the night and covers all the declarations on Lib Dem seats.

Three defences and two gains in Gateshead

We had a number of clearly defined targets in Gateshead for the local elections:

• hold our three defended seats - Low Fell, Whickham North and Whickham South and Sunniside - and to do so in a way that did not detract from sending resources to wards we aimed to gain;
• to gain Dunston Hill and Whickham East and Pelaw and Heworth wards from Labour;
• to develop new territory for future gains.

I'm pleased to report that we held all our defences quite convincingly.

We also easily achieved our targets for gains:

Outside the above five seats, we secured the significant increase in our vote (and gained second place) in Lobley Hill and Bensham. Birtley however was complicated by the appearance of a "Liberal" candidate who is a former Councillor for the town. Put the Lib Dem and "Liberal" vote together and it is almost the size of the Labour total. Meanwhile, in Bridges ward, we got a good increase in our vote and 2nd place on the back of a minimal campaign.

We will be considering our targets shortly for next year. Watch this space!

Size isn't everything but....

Well, I'm back! The voters of Whickham South and Sunniside voted on Thursday to re-elect me to Gateshead Council for my 10th term. The result, declared yesterday was:

• Jonathan Wallace (Lib Dem) 1917 (72.9%, +6.2%)
• Judith Turner (Labour) 479 (18.2%, -4%)
• Perry Wilson (Conservative) 232 (8.8%, -2.2%)

Majority 1438 (54.7%, +10.2%)

The changes are on the results last year. I am not one who thinks size is important but let me have a moment of self-indulgence! I got the biggest vote in Gateshead and the second biggest in Tyne and Wear of any candidate. I got the highest share of the vote in Gateshead and (I think) in the whole of Tyne and Wear. My majority alone was bigger than the total actual vote of any Labour candidate in Gateshead. So a good result all round!

Thank you to the people of Whickham South and Sunniside for their magnificent vote of confidence in me.

Today is polling day!

I am about to head off to help with the get-out-the-vote operation in Dunston Hill, Pelaw and Heworth, Birtley and Lobley Hill and Bensham. Yes, today is polling day. But first, breakfast - a bacon buttie in Whickham.

Gateshead Lib Dem video: vote for Paul Diston

Gateshead Lib Dems have been experimenting with short videos about the local election campaign. This video is about Paul Diston, who is battling Labour in Pelaw and Heworth ward (Labour majority of 102).

Vote for Paul tomorrow!

Whickham eFocus no. 117

I put the finishing touches to our latest Whickham area eFocus this morning. We decided to make it entirely about the local elections as it is polling day tomorrow. The local news stories we have will be held over to the next edition which will go out over the weekend, complete with a report on the elections.

You can read eFocus on this link.

Delivering in Lobley Hill and Bensham

Much Lib Dem campaigning time in Gateshead has been focused on our top target seats but we also have developmental wards as well. Today, we had a team in Lobley Hill and Bensham ward delivering leaflets for Nick Seaborn, the Lib Dem candidate. I delivered two patches - one in Festival Park and one in Lobley Hill. No one any of us spoke to was voting Labour! Long may that continue.