Memories of 9-11

I remember distinctly 11th September 2001. I was working for the Lib Dem group at the Local Government Association at the LGA HQ in London. The internet was more basic and slower back then but I was able to pick up a news report that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. My initial thought was that it was a small plane that was involved in the collision. A few days before I had (wearing my historian's hat) studied a crash by a light aircraft into the Empire State Building in 1945. I presumed the crash in 2001 was something similar. I mentioned the crash to colleagues as they returned from lunch only to discover no one could get onto the BBC News site. Apparently it was overloaded.

And then came the rumour that a passenger jet, not a light plane, had hit the WTC. We knew there was a tv in the basement so we headed down there to see one of the towers burning and to witness the 2nd attack followed by the collapse of both towers. It was a Kennedy moment. Everyone old enough remembers what they were doing when they heard the news of the assassination. Now everyone old enough remembers what they were doing when they learnt of the attacks on the WTC, Pentagon and American Airlines 93.

With fears that this terror attack could be about to hit other countries, the Blair government ground all aircraft in UK airspace. We felt as though we were all under siege and as we were based in Westminster, next to Parliament, and fearing the rail and tube could be suspended, we were told to head home. I got to Victoria Station which was unusually crowded for an afternoon but fortunately the trains were still running. These were the days when mobile phones were simply for making calls but David was able to phone me from the safety of the North East and give me an update.

I got back to the house later in the afternoon and watched as events unfolded on television. We knew at that point that the world would never be the same again.

Front Street looking great

 

Volunteers from Planting Up Sunniside have been hard at work on Sunniside Front Street. The flower beds look great. Well done everyone.

Printing again

 

With the summer break now behind us, we are back to campaigning. I was in our print room this morning the result of which was 1000 leaflets ready for delivery this weekend.

Six month absence and he stands again

This is the first time that I have ever come across an ex-councillor standing in a ward where he caused the election by not attending any meetings. If a councillor fails to attend a meeting for six months, they are off the council and a by-election is called. Most of those former councillors disappear never to be seen again. Not so ex-councillor John Allen, elected for Reform in Hirst ward of Northumberland last year. He failed to put in an appearance at council meetings from February to August, at which point the 6 month rule kicked in.

The resulting by-election will be held on 1st October and, you guessed it, Allen is standing again, this time without the Reform branding. Instead, he is standing as an Independent. 

This contest sees the Conservatives, Restore, Reform and ex-Reform battling for the right wing vote. On the centre and left of the political spectrum, Labour and the Lib Dems are battling for the progressive vote without a Green candidate to muddy the water.

Chowdene action day

 

On Saturday 5th September 2026, Gateshead Lib Dems held an action day, this time in Chowdene ward. Most of the ward was delivered with the Focus in the morning. I had a patch of 275 to deliver, only to find whilst out delivering that 60 had to come off my delivery list - I bumped into a colleague who was delivering part of my patch by mistake! It meant I was the first back at HQ for lunch! By the time everyone else was back, we could see that only 4 patches (see photo above) were left to deliver. 

I was not sticking around after lunch. I had tickets to watch Star Trek IV, the Voyage Home 40th anniversary at the Tyneside Cinema. It's one of my favourite films. Definitely not to be missed.

Three way split for parties of the right

A by-election in the Northumberland ward of Amble is due to be held on 1st October. The vacancy has been caused by the death of Arty Hume, first elected in May last year for Reform. The point of interest is the list of the parties contesting the by-election. There are four: Conservatives, Reform, Restore and Labour. I am scratching my head as to why there is no Lib Dem candidate. Sadly, the party is not as strong in Northumberland as it used to be. Notice also the absence of a Green candidate. It means the rightwing vote is split three ways. If Labour can't win in such circumstances, can they ever win?

Another point of interest will be the impact of the presence of a Restore candidate on Reform's vote. Will Restore grab a share of Reform's vote, enough to cost them the by-election? We shall find out on 1st October.

Oh no, not another by-election

Has Keir Starmer left a ticking time bomb in Burnham's inbox? His resignation as MP for Holborn and St Pancras means a tricky by-election. The Greens are already sniffing around the constituency and they are doing nothing to deflect suggestions that Zak Polanski will be their candidate. The talk is that Starmer has handed the constituency to Polanski. But is that really the case?

In the May local elections, Labour actually held on, though admittedly with a reduced majority, in Camden, the authority that covers Holborn and St Pancras. Elsewhere, Labour were in meltdown. It seems in Camden that people regard Labour a bit more positively than elsewhere. There is likely to be a rebound in the Labour vote, as already seen in opinion polls and in the Makkerfield by-election. And I'm not convinced that the Labour machine was unaware of the by-election. I suspect Starmer had been in talks with Labour campaign chiefs and an assessment of Labour prospects has been made. Perhaps he's going now because Labour feel they have a good chance of holding on, subject to a suitable candidate. Meanwhile, the gloss has started to come off Polanski. And an examination of Green policies could put off many moderate centrist voters.

So although the Greens may be getting excited about Polanski storming his way into Parliament, I would caution against all this excitement. We may be in for a big battle but if Polanski stands and loses, his political career is over.

Dunston fair video

 

Basil and Dandelion went down well with visitors to the Dunston fair yesterday. As you can see, they were the stars in the video I filmed on the day.

Dunston fair

 

This morning I took two of our goats to Dunston fair. Dandelion and Basil spent the morning and afternoon being given lots of apples and attention. My colleagues Peter Maughan, Marilynn Ord, Jason Meecham and Peter and Susan Craig were there as well. Particular mention is made of Emma from Dunston who took over the running of the fair some weeks ago. It probably wouldn't have gone ahead without her.

Leapfrogging in style

Yesterday there was a by-election in the Newcastle City Council ward of Throckley, Walbottle and Newburn. Yet again, it was another Reform resignation after just a few weeks in the role of councillor. The ward itself was comfortably held by Labour until their near wipe out in Newcastle. From a council Labour had run with a significant majority, they were reduced to two. But with the Burnham Bounce and the boost that can be gained by starting in second place in the ward, Labour must have fancied their chances of regaining the ward.

Throckley must have been the worst ward to try to pull off a Lib Dem coup in Newcastle. We were chugging along with barely a few percent. Even the Conservatives were ahead of us. Ahead of them were the Greens, who were stalking Labour who were in a slightly distant 2nd place. Reform had a comfortable majority. The margins may have been significant but Labour should have been the primary challengers. And then everything went wrong.

Instead of storming the Reform barricades in Throckley, Labour slumped. Instead, the Lib Dems were doing the storming from the back of the queue. In spectacular style, they leapfrogged the Conservatives, Greens and Labour to seize the coveted 2nd position. It would have been great to leapfrog in style by winning the seat outright but the Lib Dems now have a winnable ward which, if worked, could go Lib Dem next time.

The actual result (with the top result for each party in May in brackets for comparison) was:

• Reform 901 (1380)
• Lib Dems (Steve Kelly) 670 (150)
• Labour 534 (914)
• Greens 103 (432)
• Conservatives 101 (276)

The only party with an increased vote are the Lib Dems. Greens and Conservatives were squeezed right down. Labour lost nearly half their vote. Reform lost approximately a third of their vote. Meanwhile the Lib Dem vote quadrupled.

Well done to Steve Kelly who has taught us to leapfrog in style.

Protesting again a greenbelt development

 

Plans by Banks Group to build 210 houses on the fields to the south of Sunniside are not going down well in the village. The planning application is not yet submitted to Gateshead Council but it is expected later this year. I organised a photo op for the Evening Chronicle on Thursday for residents to protest against the proposals. With only a couple of days' notice, 30-40 came along, having responded to the post I put on our Lib Dem Facebook page, Focus on NE16.

Our reasons for opposing the proposals are:

• the site is greenbelt;
• the village is heavily congested;
• the community infrastructure (schools, health services etc) are already overstretched;
• the drainage in the village is already inadequate and during times of heavy rain, sewage overflows into the local stream.

The application has not yet been submitted but we expect it to be with the Council later this year.

Come and see Basil and Dandelion tomorrow

 

Tomorrow I will be taking two of our goats to another local fair, this time in Dunston Park, Gateshead. I will be taking dandelion (see above) one of our young nannies and Basil (see below), a billy kid born earlier this year. The fair is open 11am to 3pm.