The Whickham North and Swalwell result

 

Winner of the Whickham North and Swalwell by-election, Susan Craig, pictured above with Cllrs Chris Ord, me, Peter Craig and Ron Beadle and Andy Coleman, chair of Gateshead Lib Dems, told the press last night after the count that the result shows that the only was to beat Labour in Gateshead is by voting Lib Dem.

In what was once Labour's top target in the whole of the North East of England, Labour's vote effectively halved in the by-election yesterday. The full result was:

Liberal Democrats            902 (65%)

Labour                              285 (20%)

Conservative                    137  (10%)

Green                                  72  (5%)

I'm pleased to report that the Lib Dem vote not only stood up but the share increased by 8%. Given the Lib Dem share was already well over 50%, an increase in the by-election yesterday was very welcome. The Lib Dems were the only party smiling when the count was over!

Bring together the result of the Bridges by-election last month with the Whickham North result yesterday and the picture is clear - the Lib Dems are mounting a serious challenge to Labour in Gateshead. No other party is a serious contender in this race.