A successful visit

 

I recently arranged for Sunniside History Society members to visit Ravensworth Castle in Gateshead. The trip took place on Saturday. The Castle was a stately home designed by John Nash (who designed Buckingham Palace when the Prince Regent was around) but it was partially demolished in the late 1930s and then more substantially in the 1950s. Fragments survive including the stable block and a corner of the Nash house (see photo above). In addition, the two medieval corner towers have survived the ravishes of time far more so than the rest of the site.

Ravensworth Castle is in the Ravensworth Park estate and is privately owned. You can't just turn up and look around. All visits must be arranged in advance.

There were about 15 of us on the visit and a good time was had by all. There were two of us able to talk about the history of the site - myself and Barry, the head gamekeeper at Ravensworth. Barry's intimate knowledge of the buildings was especially useful.

I was the only member of the group who had previously been to the Castle so this visit was a new experience for the others.

Stable block.

Stable block

Fish pond.

Good start but....

It seems that Andy Burnham has got off to a good start. I had previously thought of him as something of a lightweight but his performance since becoming PM has made me revisit my opinions on him. This is of course the honeymoon stage of his premiership. We saw with Starmer and Brown that honeymoons can be shortlived. It will be interesting to see how long Burnham's last. Nevertheless I get the feeling that most people want him to succeed, at least for the nation' sake.

But then we come back to the same problems that Starmer faced. Burnham makes announcements on policies but he still has all the restrictions that were placed on his predecessor. All the problems that faced Starmer are still there. He was not able to resolve them (his time in office was after all curtailed). Time will judge Burnham in the years to come on whether he succeeded where Starmer fell short.

Which is the most unworkable policy?

It seems the Conservatives have entered a competition with Reform to see which party can come up with the most unworkable policy. Over the past week, Reform announced that if they were in government, they would use the Royal Navy to forcibly return asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats to France. That would mean Royal Navy vessels entering French territorial waters without permission from the French authorities. The French have already announced they will not allow ships to dock. For an unworkable policy, Reform are awarded 10 out of 10.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have come up with a plan to solve the housing crisis by evicting people. Specifically, they want foreign nationals thrown out of social housing. The patronising claim by the Conservatives is that somehow those living in social housing are not paying their way and should therefore be kicked out of their homes so they are forced to support themselves. But what about the hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who are paying their way? People who work in the NHS or in vital other local services? According to the Conservatives, they are living off everyone else so they need to be evicted. Another 10 out of 10 for an unworkable policy.

Neo-Nazi and net zero

The Conservatives have really lost the plot. In a desperate bid to outdo Reform, Kemi Badenoch has announced that no one supporting net zero will be allowed to stand as a Conservative candidate in the general election. This led to one former cabinet member (Grant Shapps) being refused permission to stand. Yet at the same time she was standing by a Conservative local election candidate with convictions for harassment and neo-Nazi activities. This candidate has now stood down but the damage to the Conservatives has been done.

Ravensworth Castle visit

 

As chair of Sunniside History Society, I have arranged a visit to Ravensworth Castle (or what is left of it after the demolition squads of the 1930s and 1950s had finished their work). What is left is the stable block, the two Medieval corner towers, the ice house and a corner of the John Nash mansion. The trip will be on Saturday. If you want to join the visit, come to the Sunniside History Society meeting tonight (Wednesday 5th August) at Sunniside Social Club and register your interest. You can also email sun1h1st@gmail.com.

Cornerstone community fair

 

Cornerstone Church recently took over the former Sunniside Methodist Church building. I am delighted that Cornerstone took on this project as it ensured the building continues to be available for use by the community and the heritage of the Sunniside was retained and protected. On Sunday, the church held its first community fair. I was there to run the Sunniside History Society table. My ward colleague Cllr Jonathan Mohammed also popped in (see photo above).

Reform bans the Ukrainian flag

Two flags have been banned by Reform from the flagpoles of Gateshead Civic Centre. Firstly, they put an end to the display of the Pride flag. Now, they have banned the Ukrainian flag, a decision that was confirmed at the last full council meeting in July. A Lib Dem motion calling for the flag to be flown was kicked out by the ranks of largely silent Reform Councillors (other than the deputy leader who spoke against. Her argument was that the union jack flown constantly at the Civic Centre would have to make way for the Ukrainian flag. This is of course nonsense. There are 3 flagpoles at the Civic Centre. We only want one for the Ukrainian flag, not all three.

Meanwhile, I continue to see people displaying the Ukrainian flag at home. Given the improved Ukrainian battlefield situation, Reform could soon be in the wrong side of history.

No DBS checks in Gateshead

DBS checks (Disclosure and Barring Service) are not to be required of Gateshead Councillors in Gateshead. That was the decision of Gateshead Council a couple of weeks ago. DBS is a system to check whether someone has a criminal record so it can be decided whether a person is appropriate for appointment to a particular job or role. Earlier in July, Labour put forward a motion calling for DBS checks on all councillors as a matter of course. Council rejected the call.

Or rather, Reform rejected it.

I have criticism of both Labour and Reform about this. Firstly, Labour had been in power in Gateshead since 1974. They chose to put forward the DBS proposals after losing power. Before May, they had the power to require DBS checks but did not implement them. Then, after losing power in May and no longer having the power to introduce them, they then propose implementing them.

Secondly, Reform responded to the motion by rejecting it. Their deputy leader led their argument against. She made the point that there was nothing in the motion to explain what the Council should do if someone's DBS comes back failing their check. It's a valid point to raise but it was wrong to use that argument to throw out the DBS proposals. They could have moved an amendment or simply worked with the opposition parties to come up with a workable solution.

In the dark days of Labour's one party state in Gateshead, Labour largely voted against our motions (there were a few honourable exceptions). It seems Gateshead under Reform is heading in the same direction.

Wallpaper ballot

 

This photo has been doing the rounds on Facebook. It is the ballot paper for the Clacton by-election. At this point in the contest the supply of jokes about this absurd contest have been exhausted. 34 candidates are competing for the crown, making for a ballot paper that is more like wallpaper.

The jokes may be exhausted but it is still possible to engage in fantasy outcomes. The idea that Farage could be beaten by a bin is delicious. Alas, however, I can't see it happening. Expect a Farage win unless Binface manages to whip up enough people to push him over the line. Dream on!

Fish and chips onboard the Tanfield Railway

 

Sunniside is fortunate to have the Tanfield Railway, the world's longest running steam rail system, right on our doorstep. Recently I spotted an advert for an event at the Tanfield: fish and chip aboard the train. I couldn't resist. We had a great time!

Newcastle Pride - the video

 

Filmed today.

Newcastle Pride

 

It was Newcastle Pride today. After my ward surgery I headed over to Newcastle Civic Centre to be part of a sea of colour for the parade to the Monument. Good to see lots of people from Gateshead Council LGBT support network.

One of the first people I bumped into was Cllr Henry Gallagher, mayor of Newcastle.

Welcome aboard

Gateshead full council meeting was held last week. Quietly slipping in under the radar was Reform Councillor, Lindsay Atkinson. He was the winner of the High Fell by-election caused by the Reform councillor, elected in May, lasting only 11 days in the job. Atkinson's win went unobserved by Full Council. No mention by the Leader or Mayor. No opportunity for Reform to celebrate their majority of 5. What was also of interest at the meeting was the appearance of Reform Councillor Sydney Laws who had not attended any previous meetings and some were beginning to wonder if he would ever be seen at council meetings. Now we can rest assured that he will be taking an active role in the Council.........we hope.

50 years in business

 

I had to go to Lobley Hill today for some stamps. The joy of popping to the Sunniside Post Office ended when the branch was closed a few years ago. Lobley Hill is therefore now our closest branch. The Lobley Hill branch is next to the Kular Stores which recently celebrated 50 years as the convenience store for the whole of Lobley Hill. I remember being sent to the shop 50 years ago by Mam to do some shopping. Previously it was Moore's Stores. And yes, I remember shopping there as well. The store has grown ever since. So congratulations on reaching a half century and and here's to many more years ahead of you.

Clear the gallery!

 

Full council last week experienced some disruption. A bunch of Reform supporters were in the public gallery and, rather oddly, also in the well of the council chamber. This area is reserved for councillors, officers and press. The only members of the public allowed to sit in the well (on the edge of it) are those with disabilities which make it difficult to access the public gallery. Joining the Reform supporters in the well was Mark Steele, the conspiracy theorist who claims street lights are part of a 5G weapon system which is killing people. Steele runs his very own political party, Save Us Now, which appears to have been created in his own image. Nevertheless, despite the different party memberships, |Steele appeared to be getting on well with his Reform chums. Other than the one person in a wheel chair, we do not know how these people found their way into the chamber unchallenged.

Part way into the meeting, Labour complained to the mayor that abusive language was being used by people in the public gallery. I didn't hear what was said but the Mayor immediately clamped down and ordered that the public gallery be cleared. Mark Steele chose to leave by walking through the council chamber shouting abuse at Labour councillors while looking at the Lib Dem group. The video above caught what happened.

Given ongoing concerns about the safety of politicians, quite why Reform supporters and others were allowed to gather in and occupy part of the well of the council chamber is unknown. Perhaps the Reform leadership of Gateshead Council may wish to look into this and report back on how this will be avoided in the future.

Will there be a general election?

Speculation about a general election was one of the most expected outcomes of the change of Prime Minister. I can't however see an early election happening. Burnham inherits a Parliamentary party of over 400 MPs. The current Parliament has run for only 2 years and has 3 years left to go. Burnham has committed to following the key points of the Labour general election manifesto. Labour's poll ratings may have improved but decisions on going to the polls cannot be based on initial opinion poll results. Outside the North West, Burnham is largely unknown. He needs time to settle in. And, of course, we live in a Parliamentary democracy. The prime minister is not directly elected by the people but is appointed by the King who give the role to the person who can command a majority in the House of Commons.

So, famous last words etc but do not expect a general election at least until 2028, if not 2029.

Working 9 to 5

At full council in Gateshead last week, the ruling Reform group put forward a motion calling for meetings to start at 4.30pm and be limited to a maximum of two hours. The aim of the changes is to make it easier for people to become councillors and attend meetings. So let's look at this in detail.

In days gone by, most people would have worked standard 9 to 5 shifts. Daytime council meetings therefore are difficult for working people to attend. But...nowadays, more people are working flexible shifts, work weekends, enjoy flexitime, work part time and so on. In other words, people are more flexible in their working arrangements. For me personally, working 9 to 5 is not an issue. I am a farmer and can fit meetings around mucking out the goats, feeding the sheep and so on. The problem for me is evening meetings in the ward. I attend lots of local community and volunteer groups typically from 6pm onwards. Moving council meetings to the late afternoon will make it harder to do the task of local representation.

The Lib Dem group however were more inclined to support the proposal so I accepted the need to support the change. If it works, that's fine. If not, we always have the opportunity to go back to day time meetings.

The other Reform proposal however was more controversial: meetings are to be restricted to 2 hours maximum. For all the time I have been a councillor (39 years now!) there has never been a need to limit the length of a meeting. Indeed, I have attended lots of meetings that were so short that councillors were still signing the register as the meeting ended. Meetings lasting more than 2 hours are unusual but typically there is a good reason for exceeding such a time limit. Here are some relatively recent examples.

A few months ago, corporate resources scrutiny committee discussed the demolition of the flyover as well as other issues relating to the failure to regenerate Gateshead High Street. Members of the committee grilled chief officers and the then leader and deputy leader of the council. This exercise brought out a great deal of information and threw light on how the council was dealing with the key issues in the town centre.

Another recent example was the scrutiny by corporate resources of Regent Funeral Services, again with senior officers attending. As with the previous example, the meeting lasted more than 2 hours because there was a thorough analysis and a great deal of questioning by members.

And a further recent example was the cabinet meeting that debated the proposed closure of leisure centres in Gateshead. This issue alone took up 3 hours of the meeting's time because members of the public, interest groups and volunteers attended and put forward their views, as did ruling and opposition councillors alike. Restricting the whole meeting to 2 hours would have severely curtailed the debate and probably would have excluded the public from being able to speak.

So, while a general rule on restricting meetings to 2 hours will in most circumstances have no impact, on big debates about crucial matters that require more intensive and extensive discussion, a big hole will be blown in democracy. And for these reasons, the Lib Dems voted against the time limit.

Citizenship ceremony

 

A citizenship ceremony was held in Gateshead Civic Centre earlier this month. People from about 40 countries who had come to the UK as legally recognised migrants received their citizenship at the ceremony. Two of the new citizens are constituents of mine.

Tackling flooding in Sunniside

 

Sunniside has, for decades, been suffering localised flooding. Before the village was built in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was agricultural land (much of it was my grandfather's farm). Most of the village has been built on a slope and given the increasing incidents of heavy rainfall and the increase in hard standing, the drains are no longer capable of dealing with the amount of water therefore causing floods.

I'm pleased to report that Northumbrian Water and Gateshead Council have a plan to tackle the flooding by reducing the amount of hardstanding, adding drainage to the field in the centre of Sunniside, creating a pond to collect excess water at the bottom of Hole Lane and adding in more drainage pipes.

Work will start soon to install the system but a public consultation has been carried out. A display of the plans was held in Sunniside Club recently. I called in with my ward colleague Marilynn Ord and had extensive discussions with the engineers who were present. Let's hope the improvements fully address the flooding problems that Sunniside has had to endure.

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. 

Could Hitler have won?

 

Could Hitler have won? - that's the title of my next talk to Sunniside History Society. I will be looking at various wartime events and explain how a different outcome to them may or may not have influenced the course of the Second World War. I will be keeping the shocker to the end of the talk when I explain how Hitler could have won control of Europe and then the world.

Away day

 

The term "away day" suggests a meeting well away from home. Gateshead Lib Dems had an away day on Sunday but for me it was not far away. Indeed, it was a three minute walk to get there from my house. Our thanks to Sunniside Club for being the venue. Good and thorough discussions held on the recent local elections and on campaigning over the year ahead.

Back on the campaign trail

 

It feels as though election campaigning is never going to end in Gateshead. We have a by-election in High Fell caused by the resignation of a Reform Councillor after only 11 days in the job. Polling day is on 9th July. Lots to do and my Saturday morning was taken up trudging the streets of High Fell delivering the next leaflet for the Lib Dems. We have 18 patches in the ward. Most were done by lunchtime. The remaining bundles were taken away by those who will be delivering through the week.

High Fell by-election leaflet watch 3: the proof is in the reading

 

Reform's High Fell by-election leaflet fell into my hands over the weekend. Take a look. Anyone spot the error? The text ends abruptly. Always get someone else to proof read drafts of leaflets. Had Reform done so, they would have spotted half their leaflet is missing! (A bit like ex-Councillor Cavanagh.)

High Fell by-election leaflet watch (2)

In the last few weeks, since the by-election was called in High Fell in Gateshead, residents of the ward must be feeling that they have received more leaflets than in the previous 25 years! And not only have the Conservatives produced a leaflet, out pops a second one.

Conservative candidate Mr Flux reports in this latest edition that he is still cleaning road signs. But what is of more interest is his attempt to be the rainbow warrior of Gateshead. Yet again, Mr Flux has used another party's colour on his leaflet. Last time Labour and the Greens found their colours all over the first Conservative leaflet. Now, it is the turn of the Lib Dems to find Mr Flux is exhibiting their colours. But, amazingly, there is a splash of Tory blue as well. Wonders never cease!

Conference booked

 
Lib Dem Conference this September will be back in Brighton on 19th to 22nd September. In addition, on Friday 18th there will be a training conference. I have signed up for both. All I have to do now is book a hotel.

Moving on from Whickham South and Sunniside

My recent prediction that Lindsay Atkinson would be the Reform candidate for the High Fell by-election in Gateshead turned out to be spot on. Mr Atkinson stood in my ward in the local elections last month. He came fifth, about 600 votes behind Jonathan Mohammed, my ward colleague. Jonathan was elected as the 3rd councillor in Whickham South and Sunniside. (Marilynn Ord was first and I was second.) So for Mr Atkinson, May's result was a disappointment. Nevertheless, the resignation of a Reform councillor in High Fell (after a whopping 11 days in the job) opened up the opportunity to fight again for a seat on the council. Were Mr Atkinson to be elected, let's hope his attendance will be a bit better than that of another High Fell Reform Councillor Sidney Laws who, according to Gateshead Council's website, has yet to attend a meeting. Indeed, the council doesn't even have a photo of this person.

High Fell by-election leaflet watch 1: give us a sign!

 

A rare sight indeed! The Conservatives barely exist in Gateshead but unexpected electoral contests can produce some surprising outcomes. High Fell ward is host to a completely unnecessary council by-election. The cause of this return to the polls is a Reform councillor who managed 11 days in the post before chucking in the towel. The Conservatives have chosen a candidate. Good luck (he'll need it) to Barry Flux who, I understand, was until recently a Conservative councillor in Northumberland. Relocation to Gateshead meant he had to wave goodbye to the county council.

The Conservatives managed to field 14 candidates for the 66 vacancies on Gateshead Council in May. The normal pattern of campaigning in Gateshead for the Conservatives is to field candidates who would have no campaign literature. Paperless, rather than paper, candidate. So you have to credit Mr Flux for his current campaign. Yes, we have one of those rarest of items - a Conservative leaflet. The page one header is a shade of red. Is this an attempt to appeal to Labour voters in this former Labour stronghold (Labour lost all 3 of the seats in High Fell in May, having previously held the ward for 52 years?

On the back page, Mr Flux has switched to green for his headline. Is this perhaps an attempt to appeal to Green voters? What is missing from the leaflet is any Conservative blue! Indeed, the word "Conservative" appears only twice in the leaflet, and one of those mentions is the small print!

Nevertheless, Mr Flux has brought forward a new campaign idea. He has promised to call round to clean street signs. Armed with washing up and warm water, Mr Flux will respond to calls from residents concerned their street sign needs a wash and blow dry. As far as campaign techniques go, it's original but I can't see it catching on! It's likely to be thrown out, along with the rest of the bath water!

Chase Park fair photos

 A few photos from Saturday's fair at Chase Park, Whickham. I took along Dandelion and one of the baby goats. They raised £58.20 for the park.

Church Green video

 I filmed this on Sunday at the Plant Up Whickham event to strip the flowerbeds ready for replanting.

Doing my bit at Whickham Church Green

 

On Sunday I had an early start. I was up before 6am as we had a team of sheep shearers arriving at our farm at 6.30am to shear our sheep. We were finished by 9am at which point I headed to Church Green in Whickham to help strip out the flowerbeds and remove the garden waste. When I arrived, I found most of the stripping had been done. So I loaded up my pickup with sacks of garden waste and took them to the farm where they will be made into compost. The beds themselves will be planted up by volunteers shortly.

Have a goat day tomorrow!

 

It's the Chase Park fair in Whickham tomorrow. We will have some of our goats there tohelp raise funds for the park. So pop in and have a goat day. 12pm to 4pm.

Pride inside instead

 

One of Reform's first decisions on taking control of Gateshead Council was to ban the flying of the Pride flag. This was expected. Reform council groups are known for the robotic way they take their instructions from their party HQ. Most other ruling Reform groups banned the flag. We weren't however, going to accept this lying down. If we can't have the flag flying outside the Civic Centre, we would have it inside instead. To be more precise, we flew the flag in the council chamber after the council meeting yesterday. All three opposition parties - Lib Dems, Labour and Greens - took part in the flag waving. No one from Reform joined us!

Replacing a one party state with another

Gateshead now has a Reform administration. With 38 out of 66 seats, they are sitting on a majority of 10 in the council chamber. That may change on 9th July when a by-election is held in High Fell following the resignation of Reform Councillor Danielle Cavanagh. She managed 11 days as a councillor before throwing in the towel and sparking a by-election costing anywhere between £16K and £25K. At last week's annual council meeting, 7 Reform councillors were away in Turkey at a wedding. That brought Reform's majority down to a perilous 2. Knowing so many of their own side were away sunning themselves or writing resignation letters, Reform wanted the opposition to abstain in the vote for the leader and deputy leader of the council. An inducement was offered - the mayoralty and a number of committee chairs. This was rejected by the opposition. As Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition Ron Beadle said at the annual meeting, what was on offer was a sordid deal aimed at saving the prospective Reform leadership from falling over the edge of a cliff.

In the end, despite Reform absences, the Reform leader and deputy leader election saw both elected with a majority of 2. An interesting skin-of-their-teeth scenario. It could have been so different. Reform could have agreed as a point of principle that there should be a fair share out of the committee chairs. Instead, they took everything for themselves once they knew their leader was elected. They claimed that the people of Gateshead had voted to give them full power and all the chairs. They had, however, taken only 37% of the vote. The combined opposition won 63%.

This reminded me of the days of Labour rule in Gateshead. It appears that a one party state has been replaced by another.

Lib Dems take leadership of Newcastle

The Lib Dems in Newcastle have reached agreement with the Green Party to run the council as a minority administration. Lib Dem Leader Colin Ferguson was sworn in as the new Council Leader yesterday. The Greens will serve as a "co-operative opposition", thereby ensuring all cabinet members are Lib Dems.

No single party was close to a majority in Newcastle after the local elections on 7th May. The Lib Dems emerged as the largest group on 25, only one ahead of both Greens and Reform. Labour, having run the council for the past 15 years, were almost totally wiped out, returning only 2 councillors. Meanwhile, Newcastle's tenure as a council that included Conservative representation lasted only two years. Their one councillor was swept away.

With such an enormous spread of councillors from a variety of parties, cooperation was inevitable. The Lib Dems and Greens have managed to pull it off. Well done to them but let's see how things progress over the coming year.

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.

Reform plans to scrap net zero will cost Gateshead a fortune

 

A few notes on the back of a fag packet and Reform call it a "plan for Gateshead". Nevertheless, in that jumble of meaningless slogans, there is one hard policy that will cost Gateshead dearly. Reform claim that by axing net zero, they can save a ton of cash. The reality is something different.

Like many councils, Gateshead has taken advantage of the move to net zero. Solar panels on council buildings are a familiar sight. In the photo above, you can see the panels covering the Civic Centre car park canopy and the Civic Centre roof. The installation of the panels means the council is paying far less for  electricity. Why buy in electricity when we can generate our own?

The panels were paid for by capital reserves, government grants and loans (the council can only borrow from the government but interest rates are only around 3-4%).

Along comes Reform who have promised to scrap all of this. They will have to employ contractors to strip out the panels, an unwelcome cost to Gateshead taxpayers. Council tax will have to go up or other services will have to be cut to cover the increased cost to the council of buying in electricity. The council will have to repay the government for the grants used to install so many of the panels. And somehow the capital reserves will have to be replenished as the asset paid for will have been scrapped. (The auditors will look very dimly on wasting an asset in this way.)

Meanwhile, the Council's electric vehicles will be scrapped, just at the point when it is cheaper to run EVs than petrol or diesel powered vehicles. At a time of soaring crude oil costs and blockades, Reform want to make us more dependent on Gulf supplies of fuel. This is madness.

So, Gateshead under Reform will give us vastly increased costs for electricity, hand back cash to the government and and trash our capital reserves to say nothing of the damage they will do to the environment.

The story behind statues

Last night I chaired the monthly meeting of the Sunniside History Society at Sunniside Club. The speaker was Gloria Dobbin who gave a presentation about statues in the Gateshead/Newcastle area. She explained why the statues were there and the background of the people from history who donated the funds to pay for them. A very interesting talk and it has inspired me to visit all the statues she featured to learn more about them. However, that is a task to do later in the year when I may, or may not have time on my hands depending on the election today.

Eve of poll

There was no let up yesterday with Lib Dem campaigning despite it being the eve of poll. I spent much of the day in Saltwell ward helping to deliver leaflets and a target letter. I saw no sign of the other parties except for a single, A5 leaflet for the Conservatives, of all people! Across Gateshead there are 66 seats but the Conservatives are standing in only 14. I don't hold out much hope for them. There are not many certainties in this election but it is a dead cert that the Conservatives will win nothing in Gateshead.

Back to the Lib Dem campaign - I had delivered a few hundred leaflets by early afternoon. I then met up with the rest of the team delivering in the ward and then headed back home to do a few things agricultural on our farm. So, last day of campaigning before polling day went off without a hitch.

Tormenting the council staff

 

Google AI overview of the meaning of "torment": "Torment refers to an extreme physical or mental suffering, agony, or severe harassment. As a verb, it means to inflict such suffering or to cause severe worry/trouble."

The reason I have posted the meaning of the word "torment" is because the three Reform candidates for Whickham South and Sunniside have posted on the Reform Facebook page for their ward that they will "torment" council staff if they are elected.

Such behaviour is unacceptable. Staff should never be treated in this manner. They should be respected. In my 39 years as a councillor in Gateshead, I have worked with officers to achieve changes and improvements which my constituents tell me they want. Tormenting staff is not the way to get progress. And it is certainly not the way to treat people.

Better late than never for the Greens

 At first they did nothing. And then they had to act. What was once the cuddly Green Party has been wilting under the glare of media and political scrutiny. In Newcastle, concerns were swirling about anti-semitic comments made by a couple of Green candidates - Philip Brookes and Mohammed Suleman.

The BBC reports:

One post on Brookes' Facebook page included an image which branded Israel "a bunch of Polish, Russian, Hungarian terrorists killing Palestinian people for 76 years".

His account also published an image of an Israel flag being torn to reveal a Nazi swastika flag, and in a post about the war in Gaza said it "takes serious effort not to be a tiny bit antisemitic".

On Suleman's account, a TikTok video was reposted which claimed Jewish prisoners of war were willing to bury Soviet prisoners alive under Nazi instruction during World War Two.

Concerns about these two Green candidates have been circulating for some time and it was only earlier this week that the Newcastle Greens took any action against them by "removing their endorsement" of them. They remain on the ballot paper as the legal deadline for withdrawal passed in April.

Suleman and Brookes are not alone. Another Green candidate has also been dumped. Tina Ion is standing in Blakelaw and Cowgate in Newcastle. Her name too remains on the ballot paper.

Reform split, secrecy and exposure

Northumberland County Council is run by a minority Conservative administration. The official opposition are Reform. I'm not sure what the number of Reform councillors is as the Farage party has a habit of losing members. But I hear on the grapevine that Reform met recently in secret and voted against their own leadership. This is not something that can be kept secret for long. Everything was exposed at the annual meeting of the council yesterday. Reform councillors were seen voting against their leadership's nominations for various posts. What a mess. Fortunately Reform are not in control of Northumberland but let their chaos and internal wars be a lesson to everyone not to vote Reform. Please don't bring Reform chaos to Gateshead.

Final deliveries

We are moving inexorably towards polling day. So here's a short round up of what I've been doing. On Saturday I was in Ryton delivering leaflets aimed at squeezing what's left of the collapsing Labour vote. On Sunday there was an action day in Dunston Hill and Whickham East. I was there to help deliver Focus leaflets. Monday may well have been a bank holiday but I was delivering Focuses in Whickham. And on Monday evening, I was in the Lib Dem office printing yet more leaflets. This morning I had to drop off the leaflets I had printed. And tonight I will be out delivering.....yes, a load more letters and leaflets!

Delivering in Ryton

Ryton ward in western Gateshead was my destination today. I was there yesterday as well, delivering our Labour and Reform squeeze leaflets. Between the two of us on the patch we delivered 500. Not bad for a morning's work.

Christmas donkeys 7 months early

At 10.30pm on Wednesday evening, I had just finished my dinner and just watched one of my favourite episodes of Dr Who (Genesis of the Daleks) when the phone rang. It was a resident of Streetgate, advising me that there were three donkeys on his drive! He asked me if I knew who owned them. The only donkeys in the Streetgate area are housed in stables near my farm. I guessed they had escaped from there and had followed the bridlepath to Streetgate. I phoned the owner who immediately headed to the stables though it was a half hour drive.

In the meantime, I walked over to Streetgate to find the donkeys, various residents and two police officers on the drive of the house where the donkeys had ended up. I explained that the owner was heading over but it would take half an hour to get there. The decision was taken to walk the donkeys back to the stables along the main road with one police in front with a torch and the police car bringing up the rear. I was at the front as well as I was the only one there who knew where to take them and I also had a torch. It took about 15 minutes to walk them back. There were, understandably, lots of twitching curtains.

Shortly after arriving at the stables, the owner arrived and got the donkeys into another paddock. Everyone then headed back home (with a story to tell!) and I got a ride in the back of the police car so I could give the officer directions on how to get back to Whickham.

The three donkeys are known as the Christmas Donkeys as they were booked last year for the Sunniside Christmas tree lights switch on (see photo above). We hope to have them back in November for this year's events, just not 7 months early!

Another missing Reform candidate

 

It looks as though Reform in Gateshead are suffering from another missing candidate. In Crawcrook and Greenside ward it was recently reported that Reform's Peter Gray has disappeared from the Reform campaign. Now, another Reform candidate appears to have disappeared.

Take a look at the above screenshot of Reform's High Fell Facebook page in which they announce their 3 candidates for the ward. Look at the first line: "our 3 candidates". But there are only two candidates featured. On the Council's statement of nominations, Danielle Cavanagh is listed as a Reform High Fell candidate, alongside her two colleagues pictured above. So why the disappearance from the Reform campaign? 

As with Peter Gray, there has been no public announcement about Ms Cavanagh so we are left to speculate about what's happened. As with Peter Gray, and Reform's BNP candidate David Prior, Cavanagh remains of the ballot whether she likes it or not. The deadline for withdrawal has been and gone. So stepping back or resigning from the campaign, or as with Prior, having been sacked, makes no difference. They are all still on the ballot papers and each one could potentially be elected (watch out for the by-elections).

The absence of Cavanagh from the Reform publicity may just be an oversight. An accident. A cock up. Or she may have stepped back from the campaign because she is unhappy with what's happening. Maybe she finds the campaign hard going or perhaps it was something of a mistake to stand. Perhaps she has seen what has happened to people with a past that has resurfaced.

The people of High Fell need to know what Cavanagh's status is. And if elected, does she intend staying on as a councillor or does she will she resign and cause a rather expensive by-election?

Voted!

 

I am signed up for a postal vote so although polling day is on Thursday 7th May, I've already completed my ballot paper. It will go into the post tomorrow.

This is probably the longest ballot paper I've ever had. We have the unusual situation of all seats on Gateshead Council being up for grabs plus there are lots more parties contesting elections. Hence the reason for the ballot paper doing a creditable performance as wallpaper.