Jonathan chosen

 

I'm delighted to report that Jonathan Aibi has been selected as the Lib Dem candidate for the High Fell by-election in Gateshead. No date has yet been fixed for the by-election, caused by the decision of a Reform councillor to throw in the towel after just 11 days into the job. There will be lots of campaigning coming up, just as we thought elections were over for the residents of Gateshead.

Don't ask

The SNP's former chief executive Peter Murrell has pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,000 of SNP campaign cash. He's now behind bars awaiting sentencing. The case raises questions about what his estranged wife and former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon knew of Murrell's criminal activities. To say the least, she must surely have asked questions when a luxury campervan was parked on her front drive. And the constant flow of, quite frankly completely unnecessary but expensive, goods must surely have triggered questions about how Murrell was paying for all of this. Sturgeon was former first minister of Scotland. She would have been used to receiving information and reports from high ranking civil servants and politicians. Challenging the information she was given would have been part of the job. Why did this not work with Murrell?

Reform's resignation letter

 

I've lost count of how many Reform councillors have resigned in the few days since the local elections were held. One of them however was elected in Gateshead. Danielle Cavanagh was one of three Reform candidates elected for High Fell ward. It was clear before polling day however that Cavanagh had withdrawn from the campaign (but remained on the ballot paper) when her picture disappeared from their online literature. Now we have an explanation for her abandonment of the role to which she has just been elected. Apparently, her business is expanding. Why this wasn't spotted before the local election campaign began is unknown.

A letter from Reform is now being delivered to the people of High Fell, explaining why their councillor has abandoned them. It's a bit odd though that the letter is not from Cavanagh herself. Instead, it is from the chair of their constituency party, Lindsay Atkinson, who happened to be one of Reform's losing candidates against me in my ward of Whickham South and Sunniside. And this suggests to me that Atkinson has his eyes on Reform's candidacy for High Fell.

Could Burnham do it?

My previous comments on the Makerfield by-election were made public recently. It seemed that the by-election was a gift to Reform. They had won every ward in the constituency in the recent local elections. People don't take well to unnecessary by-elections. Reform were chucking everything at it. But after a week of campaigning, it is becoming less of a Reform certainty. Doubts have crept into my thinking about the likely outcome.

Though Reform have poured people into the constituency, their candidate is becoming less credible as each day goes by. Meanwhile, the challenge from the left has self-destructed. The Green Party announced their candidate in the morning. By afternoon tea, the Green candidate was gone. Meanwhile, Restore Britain has announced they are contesting the by-election. An initial poll puts their candidate on 7%, more than the Labour lead over Reform. In other words, Restore is becoming a road block to Reform's winning the by-election. It doesn't matter they are getting just a few percent. That's all it takes under Britain's ridiculous first past the post voting system to influence and shape the result.

I don't for a moment believe that Andy Burnham is now cruising to victory. The Reform threat to Labour in Makerfield is still there but it is no longer the foregone conclusion of a Reform victory that looked obvious at the start of the campaign.

Just remember one thing however. A week is a long time in politics. And we've got 4 weeks to polling day.

First surgery

Yesterday, along with my Lib Dem councillor colleagues from the Whickham area, we held our first advice surgery for residents outside Whickham Library. Our thanks to the people who stopped to speak to us and especially to those who congratulated us on our re-election. Here are a few photos of the event.

Paying for by-elections

By-elections can be something of an unpredictable business. A death, a career change, ill health are the typical causes. But this is the first time I've seen a by-election caused by someone standing down in favour of a candidate on a mission to become Prime Minister. The Makerfield by-election will cost over £100,000. Let's suppose Andy Burnham wins. He will then step down from his role of Greater Manchester Mayor therefore causing a further contest, this time vastly bigger. The cost of the Greater Mayor by-election will run into the millions.

I therefore wonder if Labour will stop making their attacks on Reform who have sparked a whole string of unnecessary by-elections caused by Reform candidates with dodgy social media history resigning. So will Labour be paying for the Makerfield by-election? Don't count on it!

First Reform resignation in Gateshead

It didn't take long! Today we have the first resignation from Gateshead Council of a Reform Councillor. Danielle Cavanagh served a whopping 11 days before she handed in her resignation. Number of official council meetings attended: zero. She made no appearance in Reform campaign literature in High Fell. She could have turned up at the Civic Centre and no one on the opposition side would have any idea who she is. Ex-Councillor Cavanagh's resignation will mean a by-election at a cost of £16,000 to local taxpayers.

Handing Reform a by-election victory

 Labour's current leadership crisis was expected. Everyone knew Labour were heading for an absolute drubbing last week in the local and devolved elections. Starmer was going to have to accept the blame. The suggestion that Andy Burnham is the answer to Labour's problems is wishful thinking. I don't quite understand the Burnham appeal. He has, after all, twice tried to win a Labour leadership contest. He lost heavily in both. Burnham then gave up his parliamentary career in 2019 to be mayor of Greater Manchester. Now he wants to be back but his route to Parliament is perilous. Firstly he will have to get the permission of the Labour party nationally to stand in the forthcoming by-election in Makerfield. They may say no. (They said no earlier this year for the Denton by-election.)

Let's suppose they say yes, the next hurdle, sorry, I mean mountain, to climb is the Makerfield by-election itself. Reform won every council seat in the constituency earlier this month. It feels as though Labour have just gifted Reform a by-election win. A Labour loss will have the potential to tear Labour apart. But let's suppose Burnham wins the by-election and goes on to be Prime Minister. Will the people of the country be ready to accept someone who has only just been elected in a by-election? I'm not convinced he will be.

Doncaster - the UFO capital of the UK

This one is so unusual that it deserves a post of its own. Reform Councillor Kieran Lay has claimed that unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are visiting Doncaster. Cllr Lay told a council meeting that he wants the council to set up a scrutiny committee to monitor UFO activity and the dangers posed by all these illegal aliens to Doncaster airport.

I've read various posts over the past few days making all sorts of claims about Reform councillors. Some I have refused to believe as they are clearly fake. I started off believing the UFO story was a fake. I then realised it was for real! I assume the scrutiny committee was not set up. 

I wonder how the people of Doncaster feel about being the UK capital of UFOs

Ron and Chris re-elected

 

Gateshead’s opposition Liberal Democrat Group have confirmed that veteran councillors Ron Beadle (Low Fell) and Christopher Ord (Whickham North and Swalwell) will lead them over the next year.

Ron, who was re-elected with the highest individual vote of any Gateshead councillor last week, will be Leader of the Opposition because the Lib Dems are the largest of the three opposition groups on the Council.

He said: “We will provide the same level of constructive opposition to Reform as we have in the past to Labour.”

Christopher added, “Reform said very little about their plans for Gateshead during the election so we will watch with interest to see what they intend to do.”

Photo: Ron Beadle and Chris Ord at a recent Gateshead Lib Dem meeting.

Opposition on a knife edge

The election results in Gateshead last week were horrendous for Labour and disappointing for the Lib Dems. Labour dropped from 48 seats to 12. The Lib Dems dropped from 18 to 13. It means the Lib Dems remain the official opposition as the party has a single seat advantage over Labour. The Lib Dems' 13th seat, in Dunston Hill and Whickham East, was a tight race. Reform took the other 2 seats in the ward. The Lib Dem Councillor, Peter Maughan, who was returned had a majority of 11. Knife edge or what!? It did however sort out who would be the official opposition.

Another ward was in a similar knife edge situation. Dunston, Teams, Riverside saw Reform win all 3 seats but the contest for the 3rd place went down to the wire. Labour's Brenda Clelland lost to Reform by only 28 votes. Brenda had a reputation for being a hard working councillor and it was no surprise that she was the highest placed Labour candidate. Sadly for her, it wasn't quite enough to hold back the Reform tsunami.

Re-elected

On Friday last week, the election counts for Gateshead were held. I am pleased to report that I was re-elected alongside my two Lib Dem colleagues Marilynn Ord and Jonathan Mohammed. Marilynn topped the poll with 1711 votes, I was second with 1692 votes and Jonathan M was third with 1572 votes. So there were fewer than 150 votes between the three of us, indicating that most people voted for the team rather than us as individuals.

Sadly, the Lib Dems lost 5 seats in Gateshead, reducing us to 13 councillors as the northern Reform tsunami swept away some great councillors and campaigners. Labour suffered a huge collapse, losing most cabinet members, their leader and deputy leader and 36 out of 48 councillors. Reform started with no seats and are now in control with 38. As yet we have no idea who their leaders will be.

Back to Whickham South and Sunniside - this is my 12th term of office as councillor for the ward. Our terms of office are usually four years but this time it is a two year stint as we switch back from this one off all out election back to elections by thirds.

And finally, a big thank you to everyone who voted Liberal Democrat in Whickham South and Sunniside. It has been, and it continues to be, a great honour to serve as the ward councillor and I will continue to give my best to the role.