More Focuses delivered

 

I delivered 330 of our Sunniside Focuses today. I have 400 still to put through doors. Fortunately, my shoe leather is surviving the pounding. Let's see how my shoes cope with the next 3 months.

Envelope stuffing

How to turn a mundane, repetitive job into something interesting!? On Sunday, Gateshead Lib Dems hired the concert room at Sunniside Social Club for an envelope stuffing event. 35 members turned up to help put 25,000 letters into envelopes. We turned the day into a social event and put on a lunch as well. My job was to manage the event, making sure the right letters went into the right envelopes. Thanks to everyone who came along.

The job of delivering the letters is next on the to-do list!

Ready for tomorrow

 

We are having an envelope stuffing day tomorrow. 25,000 letters will be put into envelopes. I have spent much of the past week printing them. Lots of members will turn up tomorrow to give a helping hand. Should be good fun!

And still the action days keep rolling

 

It's Saturday! For Gateshead Lib Dems that means it's another action day. Today we were in Whickham North and Swalwell ward. I squeezed a delivery in after my ward surgery. 3000 Focuses delivered. 1000 more to go, scheduled for the next few days.

Ward surgery

 

Whickham councillors' ward surgery was held this morning. We decided to hold it outside the Library rather than in the cozy room inside. This way, more people see us and talk to us about local issues.

Candidates are in short supply for Labour and Reform

 

I have to admit that finding candidates for local elections is something of a challenge. Finding candidates who want to win is even more challenging. Here in Gateshead, the Lib Dems started selecting candidates just weeks after the last local elections in May 2024. With 66 to find, we decided to start early. We have 60 chosen so far and the final prospective candidates are currently being interviewed.

So how are the other parties doing in Gateshead? We are not aware of any functioning Your Party. The Conservative Party has not won a council seat here for 34 years. It wouldn't surprise me if some of their previous candidates are soon to be reincarnated as Reformers. The Greens have 3 candidates in Bridges ward but we have heard nothing on the grapevine about standing in the other 21 wards. But what of Reform and Labour?

Some interesting Facebook appeals for candidates for Reform have been circulating recently. Take a look at the one above. Similar appeals were made at the end of last year. And they have been repeated in the past few days. That sounds to me Reform are struggling.

And Labour? Firstly, we need to consider the large number of retirements of Labour councillors. We don't have exact numbers but we have a good idea whose going and whose staying on for the electoral battle. This is making it doubly difficult for Labour. We had heard that one ward, held by Labour since the Middle Ages, has one candidate in place (all Gateshead council wards have three councillors). The Labour ward branch met recently, we are told, and only 3 members turned up and none of them wanted to stand.

I still think both Reform and Labour will fill all their vacancies, even if it means scraping the bottom of the barrel, indeed scraping below the bottom of the barrel. But I could be wrong.....

Gateshead full council meeting

 

Council meeting on Thursday at Gateshead Civic Centre. It was the first meeting to be broadcast live over the internet (other than during the pandemic). The Lib Dem group fought long and hard to ensure the council's meetings are online. We got there, eventually.

The Yanks are coming......

 

On Sunday I had to stay at home in the morning to work on data for forthcoming Lib Dem literature. At the same time Gateshead Lib Dems were holding yet another action day, this time in Bridges ward. I told colleagues in advance that I would not be at the action day in the morning but I would join up with everyone at the Gateshead Tesco cafe for lunch. I brought David with me as we were both going from Tesco to the Glasshouse (formerly the Sage) for a concert by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

One of the songs they played was, "The Yanks are coming". I'm not sure the citizens of Greenland would have been singing along to that one. Let's hope the people of Greenland are allowed to live as they wish without a bully wanting to destroy their country.

Great concert, nevertheless. I was back home at 6pm for our weekly campaign meeting.

Sweeping Labour from power in Gateshead

 

Labour have been in power in Gateshead Council since the authority first came into existence 52 years ago. We have all-out local elections in May and the Lib Dems are determined to sweep Labour from power - hence the photo above. I took this shortly before full council yesterday - some of Gateshead's Lib Dem councillors with brooms ready to sweep Labour out of office.

We hear on the grapevine that Labour are struggling to find candidates. It seems that Labour are no longer in a position to offer aspiring politicians an easy-win seat on the council. Lots of Labour councillors are retiring and we understand that Labour members are not coming forward to stand. The likelihood is that Labour are set to lose big style. That's hardly an incentive for Labour members to throw their hat into the ring. 

Anyway, watch out for more of Gateshead Lib Dems sweeping Labour out of the civic centre.

Bridges action day

 

On Sunday, Gateshead Lib Dems held yet another action day, this time in Bridges ward. It looks as though Labour have abandoned Bridges. Cllr John Eagle is stepping down in May. Cllr Robert Waugh was elected in September 2024 and has not yet attended a meeting. I can't imagine his standing again. That leaves Cllr Angela Douglas. I have heard on the grapevine what her intentions are but nothing is confirmed. We have come across no Labour activity in the ward since the by-election. Bridges was a Labour stronghold in the very recent past. They are now facing an existential crisis in the ward. All the indications are of a Labour collapse.

I wasn't able to make it to the action day. I was running the Lib Dem print operation instead. I did however make it to the Lib Dem gathering at Tesco's cafe in Gateshead. That's something not to be missed!

This speaks for itself!

 

I spotted this while out and about. It speaks for itself.

Whickham South and Sunniside action day

 

Another Gateshead Lib Dem action day was held yesterday, this time in my ward of Whickham South and Sunniside. I am pleased to report that all patches in the Whickham part of the ward were either delivered or taken by people who will deliver them this coming week. The Sunniside edition will also be delivered this week.

Photo above: my ward colleague Cllr Marilynn Ord with a bundle of Focuses ready to head off to deliver them.

Look what arrived today

 

Look what arrived today! Four boxes Focuses - 2000 for Sunniside, 2,000 for Whickham South. We start delivery tomorrow. Tonight however I need to spend an hour bundling them into the delivery patches.

Target seat candidates list completed

 

On Tuesday Gateshead West Lib Dem branch held their first meeting of the year. The key aim of the meeting was to finalise the candidates for the target seats in the branch area. I'm pleased to report that this task was completed at the meeting. Meanwhile, each of the wards in the branch gave campaign reports. There are now only three and a half months to go to polling day in the local elections. They are getting horribly close!

Another missed action day

 

A second Gateshead Lib Dem action day last weekend was held in Pelaw and Heworth ward and for the second time I had to miss it. The snow was gone when my colleagues were out in the ward delivering  the latest Focus but it was still cold. I was stuck in the warmth of my home writing the Whickham South Focus. Some of my colleagues are pictured above enjoying the cold winter sun. Meanwhile, I was working hard to ensure the deadline for getting the Focus ready for printing was met.

Ryton action day - or not

Last Saturday it was meant to be a Gateshead Lib Dem action day in Ryton ward. Alas, the snow put an end to it. Instead, in the warmth of my house, I wrote the Sunniside Focus. Most of it was written by the end of the day. Ryton action day has been rescheduled.

Has Jenrick alienated red wall voters from Reform?

So, Jenrick has been evicted from the Conservative Party and immediately moves next door to live with his chum Nigel. Media reports suggest he has been talking to Reform since September last year, before the Conservative conference. That means he has been secretly plotting to knife his colleagues for four months. No wonder Farage said, "Never trust a Tory". So what are the immediate effects of this back stabbing incident?

Kemi Badenoch has buried her only realistic rival for the Tory leadership. She's safe, for now.

So far, defections by sitting MPs from the Tories to Reform have been rare: 2 now, including Jenrick. His jumping ship could encourage others to do the same.

Reform is going to look more and more like the Tories 2.0. In red wall areas, Reform has reach into some areas where Labour have previously been dominant but have taken people for granted. Political activity is minimal and Reform can potentially walk in and fill the vacuum. People in those areas are not Conservatives. Taking in large numbers of defecting Conservatives could alienate these red wall voters.

I wonder who the next defector will be? 

Pipe dream

 

It was meant to be a fantastic building attracting worldwide attention and international visitors. It was meant to put Gateshead on the map. But the international convention centre, planned in the last decade and meant to have been built well before now, is yet to have a brick laid. The initial cost of £260 million has ramped up and the land on the Gateshead Quays where it was supposed to be built remains derelict.

It became obvious that the plan was going off target in 2024 when Labour put out a leaflet in the Bridges by-election to Gateshead Council. Labour listed lots of good thinks they alleged were happening in the ward. Noticeably missing from this list was the convention centre.

As we enter 2026, we await a report from the Regional Mayor on whether or not there is enough demand for the facilities.

Ron Beadle, Leader of the Lib Dem Opposition in Gateshead, described the floundering convention plans as a "pipe dream" at the Council's corporate resources scrutiny committee on Monday. At the same meeting I tried to get officers to pin down an expected date for publication of the report. They wouldn't do that. All I could get was a commitment that it would be sometime in the coming months.

We await its publication with interest.

Back in the office

 

Barely into the new year and I am already back in the Lib Dem office to do some printing for action days in Gateshead this weekend. In addition, I printed some literature which will be delivered in February. It's going to be a busy 4 months ahead of us as we head towards the local elections.

Technology turns into history

 

Sunniside History Society's monthly meeting was on Wednesday at Sunniside Club. We had a great speaker - Simon Woolley from Beamish Museum - who gave a talk on the recent developments. The meeting was also an opportunity to donate some historic items from my house. In the photo above is my great grandfather's document case. Henry Wallace was agent to Lord Ravensworth in the later Victorian period. He was also the first county councillor for Whickham in 1888 and in 1896 he was the first chairman of Whickham Urban District Council.

This is a 1950s record player. I'm not sure whether it works or not. However, one of the recent developments at the museum is a 1950s electrical shop so I think this record player would find a new home there.

This is an induction coil, popular in school physics lessons in the 60s and 70s.I have no idea how it ended up in my house but we decided it would be better off in Beamish than in our loft! The 4th and final item we donated was a copy of the Radio Times from March 1954. Again, don't ask me how it ended up in my house!

Manifesto meeting

 

On Tuesday Gateshead Lib Dems held their latest manifesto meeting for the local elections in May. We are almost at the end of the process of putting together the manifesto and considerable progress was made on Tuesday. I wonder how the other parties are doing in putting together their manifestos? Will they bother? I've been on Gateshead Council for 39 years now and in that time I can't recall Labour ever publishing a manifesto even though they have been in charge during the whole of that time. Perhaps they feel that for this election, they don't need one given their 52 year control of Gateshead may be about to end.

In time for lunch

Gateshead Lib Dems held another action day today, this time in Low Fell. I had initially planned to go to help deliver Focuses. Alas, I stayed at home this morning as I had another Focus to write which we need for the action day next weekend. Time was running out to get it done and sent to the printer. The good news is that I had time to pop over to the action day HQ to have lunch. It was also an opportunity to meet one of our new members who is helping us for the first time. Back home and I cracked on with writing the Focus. First draft is now done and it's gone to the literature team for checking.

Campaigning in the snow

 

Gateshead Lib Dems' first action day of the year in Gateshead was held this morning in Chowdene ward. On my way to pick up a bundle to deliver, it started snowing. It got heavier and heavier. It did not however put us off delivering the latest Focus leaflet. The whole of the ward was either delivered by lunchtime or people had taken bundles to deliver through the week. The next action day is tomorrow.

So the Greens want to choose Labour's leader?

There has been some talk recently of Andy Burnham challenging Keir Starmer for the leadership of Labour. In effect, some are seeing him as the Prime Minister in waiting. This is of course totally ludicrous for the following reasons:

• Burnham is not currently an MP or peer, thereby excluding him from the position of Prime Minister.
• A Burnham leadership bid is in effect an admission by the Parliamentary Labour Party that they have no one in their ranks able to take on the role of Prime Minister. Just think about all those bruised political egos!
• Labour could create a by-election vacancy by appointing an MP to a post that requires his/her resignation. That will be in the gift of the Prime Minister. Starmer is hardly going to allow this to happen.
• Let's suppose there is a vacancy and a by-election is held. Burnham would have to win the selection process. Don't take it for granted that he will come out on top.
• The next hurdle is to win the by-election. Given that Labour candidates in council by-elections are losing nearly every by-election and their vote share has been more than halved, anyone standing in a Parliamentary by-election for Labour is on a political suicide mission.
• Let's suppose the impossible happens and Burnham is elected. To be of any use as a political cavalry, Starmer has to be forced to resign as PM. As we know from history, getting rid of a Labour leader is incredibly difficult.

Each of the above is an almost insurmountable hurdle, but it does not stop some fantasizing about a Burnham Prime Ministership, including the Green Party Leader, Zack Polanski. Indeed, he has said that the only way the Greens will support a Labour government would be by replacing Starmer with Burnham. There is an astonishing level of arrogance with Polanski as he decides who should lead a party of which he is not a member. Whether or not the Greens will be in a position to offer much support to a future Labour government is an interesting point. Their under-performance in council by-elections over the past few months is not exactly sparkling.

RIP Gerry Keating

One of the Lib Dems' most effective campaigners on Tyneside passed away on 30th December. Gerry Keating was elected to the former Tyne and Wear County Council in 1981 and then to Newcastle in 1986. Despite some breaks from the council, he served as a councillor for over 30 years. Knowing his health was deteriorating, he decided to stand down as councillor for North Jesmond in 2024. Gerry was someone who had campaigning in his DNA. Newcastle Lib Dems described hm as a "fine and principled servant of the city and of liberalism, and a man of integrity, insight and intellect."

Gerry's wife Lucy was a friend of mine from my time at Newcastle University in the late 1980s. Gerry and Lucy were great supports to each other. He will be an enormous loss to Newcastle and to the Lib Dems. RIP Gerry Keating.

Thank you and goodbye 2025

So 2025 is over. How was it for me? Well, not a bad year actually. Our farm was productive. We've sold lots of livestock. The hens played their part in the success by producing a mountain of eggs. The apple crop was gigantic. Meanwhile, two of our milking goats have produced a lake of milk even though one of them failed to produce any kids this year. On the downside, the hot dry weather, combined with greedy wild deer, destroyed our potato crop. 

In the world of politics, Gateshead had no local elections last year. However, Gateshead Lib Dems were out every week (sometimes nearly every day) delivering Focus newsletters and campaigning for the local elections in May 2026. Shoe leather has been well worn. While we are battling to remove Labour from power after 52 years in control of Gateshead, Labour activity was minimal. We heard on the grapevine last year that lots of Labour councillors will retire this May, and new Labour candidates are hard to come by. Whether or not there will be a near total wipeout of Labour in May, as there was in 2025 in neighbouring Co Durham, is an issue that will be resolved in just 4 months.

So, lots to do, but I'm quietly confident that 2026 will see a significant step forward for Gateshead Lib Dems.