The coronation of King Andy

 The announcement today that Andy Burnham has been elected as Labour leader comes as no surprise. He was, after all, in a one horse race. So he therefore undergoes a coronation rather than a contest. I remain to be convinced that this is the right approach. We barely know anything about what he plans for the country. A contest would have brought our his policies and put them in the spotlight.

We already have a precedent. Back in 2007 the coronation of Gordon Brown took place after Blair was pushed out. Those Labour MPs who were unhappy with the prospect of Brown as PM were bullied out of pushing for a contest. The result was a disaster. In the resulting one horse race, Brown was swept into 10 Downing Street and within weeks he was in trouble.

Burnham now needs to set out his plans without any vagueness. So, good luck to him but he needs to start telling us what he's all about.

Congratulations Dave

The news story that caught my eye today was the appointment of 5 new Lib Dem peers. Among them is Dave McCobb. I have to confess I don't know the other 4. Dave is a former colleague of mine from the days I worked for Lib Dem HQ. He went on to be head of campaigns and oversaw the 2024 general election campaign which saw the Lib Dems grow from 11 to 72 MPs. So congratulations Dave, well done. The irony is that having run campaigns that were all about winning votes and getting MPs elected, he is now being appointed to an unelected chamber!

Reform hold High Fell by 5 votes

The High Fell by-election in Gateshead is a hold for Reform. The results have just come through and, after a recount, Reform clung on by just 5 votes. The overall results are:

• Reform 564
• Labour 559
• Lib Dem 98
• Conservative 79
• Green 71
• TUSC 36

High Fell was previously a strong Labour ward. It had been Labour throughout the entire existence of Gateshead Council. Reform took all 3 seats in May. One of the Reform councillors resigned after 11 days (hence the by-election). Another is yet to attend a single meeting since his election. Labour came close, very close, but not close enough to winning it back. I suspect Labour will feel the most dejected by the result.

The battle for 3rd place was won by the Lib Dems. We climbed from 4th to 3rd. The Greens dropped from 3rd to 5th. The Tory candidate put out leaflets in other party colours and failed to get noticed.

So congratulations to the new Reform Councillor Lindsay Atkinson who I beat very comfortably in May in Whickham South and Sunniside ward. Let's hope he lasts a bit longer than his predecessor.

Pantomime or politics?

Lots of sleeze allegations and Farage is in trouble. In an attempt to distract attention away from his troubles, Reform have come up with an amazing plan - have a by-election by resigning, even though Farage claims he has done nothing wrong. Yet the great plan has fallen at the first hurdle. None of the other political parties will play along with Farage's game. So Farage looks set to fight Count Binface  for the resulting vacancy in Clacton. This is hardly Farage versus the Establishment, more a case of the Reform pantomime coming to Clacton. What we could do with however is some real politics. Just don't look to Reform to provide them.

Taking the goats to Lobley Hill.

 

I was the stand in for the All-Saints Lobley Hill community fair on Saturday. The organiser of the fair needed me to bring some goats. The person originally lined up had pulled out. I said yes meaning I missed a surgery and a Focus delivery in Birtley. The goats made lots of new friends!

Trip to the Hoppings

 

The Hoppings (the largest travelling fair in Europe) were in Newcastle recently. Thankfully I decided not to go on any of the rides (which seem to get taller, faster and bigger every year.) Here's the video I shot.

What's he got?

Right, so Andy Burnham is elected to Parliament and, assuming there are no unforeseen circumstances, he will be Prime Minister by mid-July. There will be a coronation for King Andy as Labour are unable to find anyone within the 410 Labour MPs elected at the last general election capable of taking on the prime ministerial role. Remember however that a coronation may not be a good thing. Labour had one in 2007 when Blair retired and Gordon Brown took over. It was downhill from then onwards. The same danger lurks now. Without a thorough debate within Labour, no one really knows what Burnham will do in government. Furthermore, once appointed as PM, Burnham will face the same problems as Starmer with the same resources. Just because Starmer is kicked out doesn't mean the going gets easier.

My final point about Burnham is, what has he got that puts him above all others in Labour? When he was in the Blair/Brown government, he was not a stand-out figure. He was mediocre and followed the then Labour government policy of privatising health services. He was also beaten twice in Labour leadership elections. Something better is needed.

St Mary's fair

 

Last Saturday, St Mary's Church in Whickham held their summer fair. Always a good opportunity to buy homemade cakes. Photo above of Councillors Peter and Susan Craig and myself.

Cllr Marilynn Ord chats to stallholders

Wider shot of the fair.

On the tombola where all the prizes were alcoholic, Cllr Marilynn Ord won the mouthwash!

A bargain at 23 guineas?

 

Last year, David and I donated a 1950s record player to Beamish Museum, one of the biggest tourist attractions in the North East of England. Also my favourite museums on the entire planet. Last week we visited the museum to see if the record player was on display. We think we found it, in the electrical shop in the 1950s town. A bargain at 23 guineas.

Reform inadvertently lose their majority

Gateshead Planning Committee met yesterday. Reform, reflecting their overall control of Gateshead Council, have a majority on Planning. Or do they...? Of the 13 Reform members of the committee, 8 were missing yesterday. The combined opposition of 8 could out vote the 5 Reform members who managed to get to the meeting. Reform aren't exactly off to a flying start.