Bridges action day

 

Gateshead Lib Dems had yet another action day on Sunday. The aim was to deliver the latest Focus newsletters across a fair chunk of Bridges ward. This was achieved. I had only 2 conversations with residents while I was out delivering. The first was with someone who had voted Labour at the last general election, is not interested in Reform and was thinking of voting Lib Dem. Our task is to enthuse people like this to turn out for us. The 2nd person thought I was delivering takeaway leaflets and didn't want to take one. When I showed him I was delivering Focus leaflets, he still didn't want to take it because he never votes!

Meanwhile, we had an interesting discussion over lunch in Tesco cafe. Both Lib Dems and Labour will see some members retire in the local elections in May. However, the numbers of those retiring on the Labour side are significant. I have counted 15 so far - ie nearly a third of Labour councillors are retiring. This figure is just of those we are sure about. We think there are more in the pipeline. And as lunch breaks are good times to speculate further, we discussed what some Labour councillors may do in terms of moving from a ward under threat from the Lib Dems to one which could be a safer bet. Throw Reform into the situation and finding a safe Labour ward is quite a challenge!

Envelope stuffing

Gateshead Lib Dems recently held what could be called an envelope stuffing event. We had 25,000 letters to stuff into envelopes and then label them. We never expected to complete the task on the day so we arranged for our Gateshead West branch meeting last week in Winlaton to stuff another ward's envelopes. So Ryton had 3500 envelopes stuffed and labelled at the meeting. The task was not finished by 10pm so everything left to do was shipped down to another location where Team Ryton finished the job on Thursday. Delivery of the letters to people's homes in Ryton started on Saturday when we had an action day in the ward. There is still a fair quantity to get through doors but the good news is that we are a week ahead of schedule.

A village green for Sunniside

In our latest Focus newsletter we put forward a suggestion that we apply for village green status for the grassed area next to Sun Hill on Sunniside Front Street. The areas was home to the Sunniside Christmas tree in November and December. Go back further in time to the 1970s and there were plans for a library on the site. It never happened as austerity (under the Labour government) put an end to it. Plans for large scale house building also never happened as there would be insufficient residents to maintain a Library. The same problem ended plans for a school in the village as well. So the grassed area remained.

My hope is that if there is a successful bid for village green status, we can apply for funding to which we are currently blocked as the site is the responsibility of the Council. On Tuesday last week, I spoke at the Planting Up Sunniside meeting about the village green idea. This resulted in lots of questions about how it would be maintained and who would be responsible for it. At this point we don't have all the answers but we want to explore the options to see what benefits, if any, there are for residents of Sunniside.

And another Reform defection

Yesterday I wrote about two Reform defections in the North East. In Sunderland, the entire Reform group (consisting of one person) parted company from Reform. And Durham County Council saw a Reform Councillor go independent. Well, another day and another Reform defection. Councillor Nick Brown has cut his ties with Reform Ltd. and has gone independent.

Cllr Brown helpfully sent his views to the Reform Council Leader Andrew Husband in a letter which contained a few home truths about the operation of Reform in Durham. Apparently, the Reform Council leadership treat their councillors with "very serious disdain" and they "refuse to engage in any meaningful dialogue, instead choosing to insult and belittle them."

This two day saga of Reform defections is not the first time the Farage Ltd party has lost members. The tally for losses and resignations now stands at six in the nine months since Reform won control of the council last year. So approximately a tenth of the Reform Group has now been lost. Ferrets in a sack is a description that springs to mind.

Reform's plans to tax the childless

Reform's candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Matt Goodwin, has come up with a remarkable (and remarkably bad) policy to tax people if they have no children. So how could this work in practice?

• Would this be an income tax or some kind of poll tax?
• Perhaps it could be something like the BBC license fee?
• Who in a household would pay it?
• Would this tax apply to people who are infertile due to medical reasons?
• What happens if a household breaks up? If one of the parents takes the children as a result of divorce, does the other parent have to pay the childlessness tax.
• What about adoption - does this count as having babies?
• At what age does the tax kick in? Will it apply to teenagers age 16 plus (which includes people still in full time education)?
• Are gay and lesbian couples required to pay?
• At what age do you no longer have to pay the childlessness tax? Are you expected for example to pay up in your forties and fifties if you don't have children? Perhaps Reform will tax you for the rest of your life if you haven't had any children at any point during your life
• And what happens if there is a death of an only child? Does Reform really think it appropriate for the tax inspector to turn up to tax you more because your child has passed away?

This childlessness tax is utterly ludicrous and completely unworkable. It would impact badly on women who would be viewed as baby-producing machines under this ridiculous tax. Women's choices for their own lives would be massively reduced with many having to start child bearing instead of going to university or having a career. Lesbian and gay couples would also be unfairly taxed.

I think Mr Goodwin needs to go back to the drawing board and start again.

Another Labour meltdown

I'm not used to Tuesday elections but we've had a number of them in recent weeks. Anyway, there was a by-election in Wales yesterday, for Fishguard North East in Pembrokeshire. A high turnout of 49% (higher than many Parliamentary contests) delivered the ward to Plaid Cymru with 34%. Second were the Lib Dems on 18% and Reform were 3rd on 13%. None of these parties stood when the seat was last contested in 2022. Back then, only Labour and Conservatives stood. It had been a comfortable hold for Labour on 59%, with the Conservatives on 41%. This time their shares were 11% and 9% respectively. There were a couple of other minor candidates as well. 

This is another example of Labour's vote being in freefall. They crashed from 59% to 11%. I understand the previous Labour councillor whose departure caused the vacancy was hard working and a good ward representative who could pull in votes that Labour would not normally receive. Nevertheless, this does not explain why the meltdown was so complete.

Notice how there was no onward march for Reform. At 13% it is the lowest I have seen Reform since before the local elections in May 2025.

Labour's candidate in my ward announced

All 66 seats on Gateshead Council are up for election in May local elections, in place of the usual elections by thirds. Each of the 22 wards will therefore elect three councillors. The political parties will have to find three times the usual number of candidates. Even in normal years when only one councillor per ward  is elected, finding 22 candidates can be something of a challenge. So finding 66 is something of a highly challenging Olympic sport!

We know Labour are now having serious difficulties finding victims, sorry I meant volunteers, to be candidates. In my ward of Whickham South and Sunniside, we usually have the pleasure of a Labour candidate who is being tested out to see if he or she can make a bit of a splash, get noticed, deliver 4000 leaflets and then get selected for a better seat the following year! This year is different.

Alec Geddes is now Labour candidate in my ward. Alec is currently the Mayor's consort and Councillor for Ryton. He's a lovely bloke who always asks me about how my Mam is doing. (Mam used to be a councillor but retired in 2012, so they both know each other). Alec however has made it plain to everyone that he is retiring as a councillor at the May elections. He has many years to his credit and has earned his retirement. He made it clear some time ago that his time as councillor comes to an end on 7th May.

But Labour has a candidate crisis. To solve this, they are selecting people who want to leave the council, not continue as councillors. That says a great deal about the state of the Labour party.

Sunderland and Durham Reform Councillors quit

Sunderland's newest Councillor has today quit the Reform Party. Ian McKinley was only elected in November in a byelection that saw Labour lose Hetton to Reform. Cllr McKinley's time as a Reform Councillor was rather short. It seems he had differences with the various Reform branch chairmen. The resignation from Reform and his self-identification as an Independent means Reform no longer have any representation on Sunderland Council.

Meanwhile, the Northern Echo reports that another Reform Councillor in the North East has quit the party. Michael Ramage was first elected in May 2025. He did not attended any of the full council meetings in May, July, October and December last year. It seems Cllr Ramage was not interested in talking to the media. The Northern Echo went to the Council's website instead to find that Cllr Ramage is no longer a Reformer but sits as an Independent.

Training

 

This is the reason I wasn't at the Gateshead Lib Dem action day on Sunday. I was at a Lib Dem training session instead. It wasn't a long trip for me to get to the meeting. It was at Sunniside Social Club which is only a few minutes' walk from my house. A useful day for me to dust down some of my campaigning skills and learn new ones.

There were inevitable discussions about the political situation on our home patches. I was told about the Labour retreat in Newcastle where it appears Labour are seriously fighting only a handful of wards. "Seriously" could be described as an over exaggeration.  The situation in Gateshead is similar. There seems to be no central direction or organisation by Labour in Gateshead. Wards are left to get on with their own campaigning and in most wards Labour's campaigning is zilch.

Action days in Birtley South and Birtley North and Lamesley

Over the weekend, Gateshead Lib Dems held another two action days, this time in Birtley South and Birtley North and Lamesley wards. Sadly, I was unable to attend. Instead, on Saturday I was tied up printing 25,000 address labels for our next mailing to voters. On Sunday I was at a training event. The two Birtley wards are interesting as far as the May local elections are concerned. Birtley South is represented by two Lib Dem councillors - Paul Elliott and Joe Sowerby - and one Labour (Daniel Weatherley). Both of our seats are recent gains (2023 and 2024) from Labour. Joe's majority was an eye wateringly tight five votes.

Meanwhile, Birtley North and Lamesley has been Labour held for decades. Normally Labour are returned with a comfortable majority but there is a significant non-Labour vote which can line up behind a party that is doing well nationally. In recent years, the Conservatives got a good showing in the ward when Boris Johnson was popular. Before that, UKIP once received a good number of votes (but still lost) and even further back in time the independent "Liberals" were within 150 votes of winning. The ward has not been intensively campaigned until now. The Lib Dems are campaigning hard in the ward.

We are not yet aware of the intentions of Daniel Weatherley in Birtley South. Even if he does decide to stand again, Labour are faced with finding two other candidates as well. We are not hearing of anything happening on the ground with regards to Labour candidates in the ward. Over the border in Birtley North, Labour have suffered a defection by Jane McCoid to the Independents. At this point, we have no information on her intentions. One Labour councillor (Sheila Gallagher) is retiring. Labour however have found two new candidates and therefore will present a full slate in the ward to voters in the May local elections. It seems Labour's Birtley North branch went for an early selection in the ward as their candidates were chosen last autumn. In the shrinking pool of what's left of Labour members willing to stand for the Council, Birtley North Labour snaffled up the available candidates early, unlike their counterparts south of the border.

For all parties, the clock is ticking on candidate selection. 66 candidates are needed for a full slate. Lib Dems are over 60 as I write. The final selections will take place soon. We hear that Labour may not field candidates for every seat. I will believe that when it happens. My 40 year experience of Labour on Gateshead Council is that they have always stood in every seat. I can't believe they won't apply the drag nets to haul in a few "volunteers"....but there is always a first for everything.

Great talk at the history society

We had our monthly meeting of Sunniside History Society on Wednesday. The speaker was Liz Purcell who gave a talk about horses in warfare. It was a fascinating presentation. Numbers attending were up as well. The next meeting is on Wednesday 4th March when we will be looking at some of the slides and photos which the society received from Francis Newman, one of the founders of the organisation. Francis passed away a few years ago but he gave us his entire photo collection. For historians, it is a treasure trove.

Gateshead executive meeting

 

On Tuesday, Gateshead Lib Dem executive met in the Civic Centre. Final changes and additions to the manifesto for the local elections in May were considered and agreed. We also discussed the local election campaign (which is already well underway) and the timetable for action days during February. Lots to do!

The Sunniside Heron

 

Last week when I was delivering Focus in Sunniside I spotted a Heron in the pond next to Kingsway, opposite Riding Barns Way. Herons are not a common sight in the village and it's been a few years since I last saw one. Nevertheless, there are enough of them to cause people to net their garden ponds in Sunniside. I doubt however that the Heron I saw was going to have a successful day catching goldfish. This pond drains the neighbouring field and normally dries up in the summer. Nevertheless, seeing the heron in Sunniside was a pleasure.