Winning Birtley

 

Winning Birtley in the local elections last week was the culmination of a number of years of campaigning with our candidate - and now councillor - Paul Elliott. I was the campaign manager and we started the election campaign facing a Labour majority of 78 from last year. Birtley has been Labour for decades though there is a now distant history of the ward electing an independent Liberal. She lost her seat in 2012 and attempted come backs came to nothing.

As the most marginal ward last year, my concern was that the national poll ratings would boost Labour's local vote. All the feedback during the campaign however showed we were doing well. We were assisted by a rather lacklustre Labour campaign which woke up to the threat from us only after the postal votes had gone out (and typically about two thirds of those voting in local elections in Gateshead are postal voters). By then it was too late for Labour to turn around the situation.

So when we arrived at the count we were confident that Paul would win and my expectation was of a majority of about 150. So a majority of 456 was a pleasant surprise.

Labour's losing councillor was Catherine Davison. In many ways I'm sorry she is no longer a member of the council. While our politics may differ, she has always been friendly, pleasant and approachable. Sadly, when you have winners, you also have losers. I wish Catherine all the best for the future.