Tea is served

There was a motion on the agenda for last Thursday's council meeting in Gateshead, about the importance of policy for women and girls. It led to some reminiscences from Labour Council Leader Martin Gannon about the civic centre when it first opened in 1987. Many of the facilities were totally inadequate for women councillors. The locker room for example had room for about 10 women councillors, whereas there were over 50 lockers for the men councillors. The council in terms of gender is now much better balanced.

Martin's words did remind me of another civic centre incident. Back in the mid 1990s, I received a letter from the mayor's office inviting me to come to the "Mayoress at home" event where cups of tea and a buffet would be served. I then compared my letter to one that was received by my mother who had just been elected to the council. There was a fundamental difference between the two letters. Mine invited me to be served tea whereas my mother as a woman councillor was invited to attend the event to serve tea to the male councillors. This clearly was completely unacceptable so we kicked up a fuss in the hope that the event would either be called off or the sexist nature of it axed. Neither happened and the event (not attended by any Lib Dem councillors) went ahead in its original form.

There was a great deal of press interest. Myself and the then Council Leader George Gill did a live interview on BBC Radio Five. Cllr Gill argued that the event and women councillors serving tea to male councillors was a tradition. I responded by saying that this sort of sexist nonsense had no place in a modern council.

Following this, the Lib Dem group put a motion to Gateshead Council calling for events of a sexist nature to be scrapped and for all councillors, whatever their gender, to be treated equally. The Labour party voted against but in a sense we won as the "Mayoress at Home" event was never held again. It was quietly dropped.

As I told the council meeting last week, thankfully Gateshead Council has moved on a long way since then.

Election campaign day 2: no football tenancy

Yesterday, day 2 of the election campaign, was the first full council meeting in Gateshead since the council annual meeting, which happened to be last week! The highlight of the agenda was the Lib Dem motion calling for a secure tenancy for Gateshead Football Club at the Gateshead International Stadium. The council are looking to transfer the stadium to another operator and Labour made it clear that a secure ten year tenancy would get in the way of their plans to move the stadium out of the direct council management. To the disappointment of the many fans of Gateshead FC in the public gallery, the motion was defeated.

It was however another occasion for near silence from Cllr Angela Douglas, Cabinet member for sport and leisure. Having been largely silent during the controversy over her plans to close leisure centres - there was a 2 hour debate in cabinet about them during which she said nothing - now was the opportunity for Cllr Douglas to open up about her portfolio and give us an explanation of her thoughts on the stadium. And sure enough, Cllr Douglas grabbed the opportunity. She seconded a Labour wrecking amendment to the Lib Dem motion with a long speech of, errrr, 4 words - "I second the amendment". Many of us wonder what benefit there is to Gateshead by Cllr Douglas being in receipt of her £16K a year post of cabinet member for sport and culture.

Election campaign day 1 - Singing in the Rain

So, only 6 months before we expected it, Sunak yesterday called the election. Standing in Downing Street to announce the date, it rained, and rained, and rained. Poor Richi got an absolute soaking. Is it an omen for the rest of his campaign? Will it be a washout or will he close the gap on Labour? Still it was tempting to imagine Morecombe and Wise dancing across Downing Street with their rendition of "Singing in the Rain". Meanwhile, wrapped in the union jack, Starmer launched his campaign in front of what looked like a stripped pine kitchen.

Not all Tories are happy with the election announcement. There is talk of plots to evict Sunak from the leadership, replace him and call off the election. If anything sums up the febrile nature of the Conservatives at the moment, it is this. The very idea that Tory MPs, many of whom are about to be stripped of their next six months' pay, could believe such a plot was a good idea, just shows the Tories have descended into farce.

On a practical note, three very heavy boxes of leaflets arrived at my house yesterday, only 2 hours before Sunak made his announcement. Talk about good timing.....

New at the annual meeting

 

Gateshead annual council meeting was held on Friday and new member Joe Sowerby took his seat in the chamber. Joe was elected as councillor for Birtley on 2nd May, taking the ward from Labour by a slender 5 votes. Joe is pictured with Paul Elliott who won Birtley from Labour last year.

New at the group meeting

 

Gateshead Lib Dem group meeting last night and Joe Sowerby was there to take up his role as a Lib Dem Councillor. Joe won his seat from Labour last week in Birtley ward. It was the tightest of majorities (5 votes) but a win is a win whatever the majority. Birtley was the only seat to change hands in Gateshead on 2nd May. Well done Joe and welcome to the team.

Remembering D-Day

 

On 5th June I will be doing a talk about D-Day, a day before the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord and the Normandy landings. I will be looking at some of the national coverage but much of the talk will be about how the news was received in the North East. The talk starts at 7pm in Sunniside Social Club. £1 for society members, £2 for non-members.

Worth a visit

 

The Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside have yet more additions to entice more visitors through the gates. In an attempt to encourage children to eat vegetables, a series of wood carvings of vegetables has been created, using wood from a large ash tree that had to be felled last year. The carvings are proving to be quite popular with children.

It's polling day but I voted ages ago

 

It is polling day for the local, police and regional mayoral elections. For the first time ever I had 3 ballot papers each helpfully a different colour. I cast my votes however about 10 days ago. Two thirds of the people voting in my ward will do so by post. So in effect the start of polling day was the day the postal votes were posted through people's doors. I signed up for postal voting last year. I enjoy going to the polling station but doing so means less time spent on the get-out-the-vote operation.

I have spent a good part of today in Saltwell. It is the ward with the tightest race. Last year the Lib Dems won the seat by 58 votes from Labour who had held it since the 1930s. It is too close to call. Lib Dems were out in force but Labour, knowing their previous stranglehold on the ward has crumbled, were out in force too.

Previous local government election counts in Gateshead have taken place on the Friday morning. Sadly, that is not the case this year. Counting starts at 10pm because of the multiple elections being held. That means today is going to be a very long day. Expect the first results in the early hours.

Could there be an upset in the North East?

A rather unexpected poll result caught the attention of the political world a few days ago. Jamie Driscoll was just 2 points behind Labour in the contest for the new Mayor of the North East. Driscoll is currently the North of Tyne elected Mayor and has been described by some as the last Corbynite still in power. The "Changed" Labour Party however attempted to end Driscoll's political career by blocking him from being candidate for the new North East Combined Authority Mayor, which will replace the much smaller North of Tyne authority. Current Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness was chosen by Labour instead of Driscoll.

Most people at that point assumed the election was cut and dried. McGuiness would have a relatively straightforward cruise to victory. But then Mayor Driscoll started to muddy the waters. Instead of going quietly, he decided not to go at all. Instead he resigned his Labour membership and announced he was standing as an Independent. 

Most thought this was just a political sideshow.  In the North East Labour heartland, Labour were simply expected to win, deserved or not. But Mayor Driscoll managed to get a bit of a bandwagon rolling and it may have picked up enough momentum (and indeed former members of Momentum) to pip Kim McGuinness to the post.

The evidence for this is an opinion poll. As far as I'm aware, there has been only the one poll done. An organisation called "More in Common" conducted the poll which produced the following:

• Labour 35%
• Driscoll 33%
• Reform 14%
• Conservatives 11%
• Lib Dems 4%
• Greens 4%

There are a large number of questions about this poll. Is it representative of the region? Were the participants self-selecting? Does it take into account what I call transfers (where people voting for a particular party vote the same way in other elections held on the same day but which they regard as of lesser importance).

But if this poll in any way reflects what is happening, and Driscoll is close to wining or even wins outright, this would be an enormous shock to the Labour Party and would knock the gloss off what is expected to be a successful set of elections for them.

I am rather cautious. I suspect Driscoll won't make it. We will find out in the next 24 hours.

Is she or isn't she?

 

I get the impression that the Greens are pushing hard in Bridges ward in Gateshead. Bridges is normally strongly Labour and they top the poll there with minimal effort (this year may be a bit different). So, Green election leaflets in Bridges are suddenly much more interesting than usual. A read of "Election News" however will leave you scratching your head. Other than the tiny imprint at the bottom of the page, there is no reference to the candidate, Rachel Cabral as being a Green Party candidate.

Indeed, residents could be forgiven for thinking that Rachel Cabral is an independent, not a Green. The opening paragraph claims she will "vote independently". Or how about "Rachel is the only truly independent candidate" on the 3rd paragraph?

So is this a new Green Party campaign tactic - claim to be an independent rather than a Green? If so, it doesn't say much for the honesty and integrity of the Green Party. Or are they simply embarrassed to be called Greens? Who knows?

Nevertheless, watch for an interesting change in votes received by the parties (or independents as appropriate) in Bridges in the local elections.

Microscope at the ready

This has to be one of the worst Labour leaflets I have seen for some years. It is Labour's election leaflet in my ward of Whickham South and Sunniside. It is littered with meaningless statements and incomplete sentences. The photo however takes the biscuit. The candidate is a tiny figure against a huge monolith. You almost need a microscope to see him. 

This is the sort of photo that is used in training sessions on taking photos for leaflets. 
 

Vote for change by voting no change - Labour

 

It may be a late arrival but nevertheless, it's still funny! Yes, Labour have produced a leaflet in Low Fell for the local elections. For Labour, Low Fell is a place where they fly tip their failed candidates and rejects from elsewhere in Gateshead. Their current candidate is Robert Waugh who, until May last year was councillor for the neighbouring Saltwell ward. 

Saltwell had been solidly Labour since the dawn of time so Mr Waugh can lay claim to the title of "He who lost a rock solid Labour ward to the Lib Dems." So what nuggets of political though has Mr Waugh dreamt up during his enforced leave from Gateshead Council? Well, this one caught my attention. "Real change for the area can only be made by the party in power." In other words, the party in power remains the same and change only comes about within that party. Meanwhile, the rest of us hold the view that change requires one political party to be replaced as the governing party by another party (or parties).

The idea that voting Labour in Gateshead is a vote for change is ludicrous. Labour have been in power on the council for 50 years - the entire time Gateshead Council has existed.

But stick with Labour's logic for a moment. If they are arguing that people should vote for the party that is in power (as they do in Gateshead), to be consistent they are presumably arguing at the national level that people should vote Conservative. After all, "Real change for the area can only be made by the party in power."

Meanwhile, Mr Waugh states that the Lib Dems have been in power for the past 14 years. History is clearly not his strong point.

And finally, Mr Waugh claims that if elected he would be the "loudest" of the Low Fell members. Sadly, many other people are yet to experience even a fraction of a decibel from him. Last year when the council debated the Lib Dem amendment calling for funding to be made available to keep leisure centres open in Gateshead, then Councillor Waugh had nothing to say on the matter. Rather than being the loudest, if appears he took a vow of silence.

Take a "Chanse" on me

The Green Party have changed their candidate in Crawcrook and Greenside in Gateshead. Ordinarily, that is not a significant issue....except Crawcrook and Greenside is their target seat in Gateshead....or so it was. The change of candidate hampers the ability to win, for any party in a ward that is of interest to them. I hear from people on the ground that there is less activity from the Greens in the ward this year, compared to previous elections. Labour are defending the ward. Before the Coalition, it was a Lib Dem held ward. And before that, it was Labour.

The new Green candidate is called Pat Chanse. The Greens' chances of winning anywhere in Gateshead are remote. The non-continuity of their candidate in Crawcrook and Greenside simply makes the Greens' task that much more difficult.

However, the Greens' focus may have moved. They are putting in some effort into Bridges ward, where Labour hold all 3 seats but their reach into the ward is limited. Typically they get amongst the lowest vote of any winning candidate in Gateshead. There is no such thing as a safe seat.

Ione on the campaign trail

 

I was in Ryton again yesterday, campaigning for Steve Kelly. I was delighted we were joined by Ione Rippeth who retired as Councillor for Ryton in 2012. She is still remembered fondly by local residents after 12 years. This ward will be one of the ones to watch in the early hours of Friday morning.

Where are the Green policies?

 

The Green Party in Gateshead have added Bridges ward to their list of hopefuls in the local elections on 2nd May. The hopeful list is rather short however - the only other seat they are targeting is Crawcrook and Greenside. (But it is better than the Tories who have no target seats here) I was sent the Greens' Bridges ward leaflet recently. Presentationally, it is an improvement on other Green leaflets I've seen. What is more interesting however is the almost complete lack of any Green policies. The candidate is seen out and about in the ward but, apart from a passing reference to cheap public transport, there is nothing else Green in their leaflet. Nor is there any use of the word "environment".

Perhaps the Greens have taken a leaf out of Labour's campaign manual - don't mention any policy. Starmer would be proud of them!

This is like gold dust

 

This is like gold dust - a Conservative local election leaflet in Gateshead! I haven't seen one of these for about 30 years. I picked this one up in Ryton last week. I don't reckon for a moment that this is evidence of the Conservatives taking an interest in elections to Gateshead Council. Instead, this is everything to do with the general election and changed constituency boundaries. Blaydon constituency (Labour held) has been broken up with the western part (including Ryton) being merged with a neighbouring County Durham seat (won by the Conservatives from Labour in 2019) to make the new constituency of Consett and Blaydon. So, territory won by the Conservatives in 2019 is being defended by them with new territory added to it.

The chances of the Conservatives winning Consett and Blaydon are microscopically thin but they clearly want to go down fighting. Hence the local election leaflet.

The Liz Truss car crash interview

 

Not one for the squeamish! Liz Truss, briefly Prime Minister in 2022, was interviewed by Sky News this morning. Her explanation for why things went wrong was because everyone else messed up, but not her. She then went on to attack Net Zero. And finally, asked who she wanted to win the US Presidental election, she immediately said Trump, whereas the answer should have been, "That's for the American people to decide." The whole interview was a car crash. Please please please everyone, contact the broadcasters and demand more of Liz Truss on prime time tv! The entertainment value alone is worth her weight in gold, regardless of the damage she does to the Conservative party!

Campaigning in Ryton

 

I was in Ryton yesterday campaigning in the local elections for the Lib Dem candidate Steve Kelly. We were on the main road and used a couple of our newly arrived large diamond posters. We certainly got noticed by passing motorists. Thumbs up from lots of people plus two fingers from one person and another who shouted "vote Reform" at us! This latter person may have difficulty trying to cast his vote for Reform. They have only one candidate in Gateshead (there are 22 wards),  in Chowdene, some considerable distance from Ryton.

We also had a team out doing what I call the mop up. In other words people were delivering the final few patches of leaflets. Response from people they spoke to was that many of them had already voted by post for Steve.

So anecdotally, the feeling is positive. We are certainly expecting a significantly improved performance in the ward.

Published and promoted by Andy Coleman on behalf of Steve Kelly (Liberal Democrats), all at 5 Wealcroft Court, Gateshead, NE10 8NR

Low Fell eFocus no. 133

 Low Fell Lib Dems have just published edition 133 of their email newsletter - eFocus. Issues covered include:

• Sewage on Durham Road;
• Daniel and the Focus Team need your support;
• Clean up on Kells Lane/Home Avenue cut;
• Call to scrap "snails pace" Gateshead High Street plans.

You can read Low Fell eFocus on this link.

Candidates in Gateshead

With postal votes starting to arrive in Gateshead, I thought I would look at the candidates on offer. Polling day is Thursday 2nd May, and one third of the council is up for grabs. This is the last local election under the current boundaries. In 2026, the new ones will come into use though the changes are relatively small.

There are 22 seats on the council up for election. Labour, Lib Dems and the Conservatives are fielding 22 candidates each. There are 18 Greens, 5 Trade Union and Socialist Coalition and 2 independents. That is not the whole story however. There are a splattering of other parties. Firstly, Reform UK are fielding one candidate in Chowdene and none elsewhere. Given their current opinion poll ratings, the lack of any Reform candidates in the other 21 seats suggests Reform UK have failed to grow any grassroots. The party may just be a creation of the opinion polls and has no party machine to speak of. Yet this is crucial for delivering winning council and general election campaigns.

The North East Party is fielding one candidate. I have no idea what they stand for. Perhaps they want independence for the North East. My prediction is that they are facing a an uphill struggle.

Another party that has only one candidate is "Save Us Now", standing in Dunston Hill and Whickham East, The key message of this "party" is that they believe that lamp posts are killing people through some kind of radiation. They have stood previously and got nowhere. I can't throw any light onto what else they believe in.

And finally, what is it about the Conservatives and "Ventnor"? There are 4 candidates with addresses in Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens in Saltwell. Interestingly, Saltwell was the most marginal ward in Gateshead last year when the Lib Dems won the seat from Labour by just 58 votes. In the consultation on new ward boundaries Labour lobbied for Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens to be moved to neighbouring Low Fell ward, a strong Lib Dem area. The Lib Dems in Gateshead have developed significant skills for squeezing the 3rd party. Labour would have had a better chance of winning in Saltwell in 2026 without the Ventnors. Sadly for Labour, the local government boundary commissioners decided to keep the streets in Saltwell!

What's the point of privatisation of Thames Water?

The recent default of Thames Water on loans in the past few days has highlighted how the funding of the water industry and infrastructure has fallen apart. There is talk now of renationalisation or some degree of government intervention.

Privatisation of water back in the late 1980s was done because of the need to raise capital to invest in and modernise the water supply service. After decades of neglect in the public sector, starved of money by governments which had other priorities, the transfer to the private sector relieved the government of the need to stump up the capital needed to move the industry on from its decrepit state. Private companies could raise the capital needed by borrowing at commercial rates or issuing new shares or a combination of both. Pension funds in particular were interested in becoming shareholders as water was regarded as a good long term investment. But of course, in the case of Thames Water, it has all gone horribly wrong.

Add to the financial crisis the impact of climate change and the company is facing a battering. Climate change with increased rainfall will lead to a drainage system that is already unable to cope becoming an even bigger problem. The country has made the mistake of draining rainwater into the sewers so the risk of sewage pouring into overflows and water courses is now a national scandal.

There are no easy solutions to this. One of the most touted is full nationlisation. I believe this is a non-starter. It would mean public money would be used to buy out the other shareholders leaving little if anything to invest in the infrastructure. And nationalisation without compensation would mean stripping the pension funds that have invested in the company of their capital - remember that is cash that belongs to you and me, future or current pensioners.

Do nothing is also an option but is not realistic. It seems to me the only realistic option is a part nationalisation of Thames Water. The government would need to stump up the cash but it will be in the form of new shares in the company. There would be no dividend for years but a recovery by the company could lead to the sale of the publicly owned shares.

It is not ideal and would require public sector investment. At least it keeps the water supply service on its feet rather than crashing and sinking under a flood of debt and sewage.

What if the Entente Cordial was never signed?

Changing of the guard today at Buckingham Palace was different from usual - French soldiers were taking part as part of the celebration of the Entente Cordial which was signed back in 1904. The decision to commit the UK to involvement in the affairs of Europe by aligning ourselves with France in the face of a growing German threat to the stability of the Continent was strengthened over the following years both militarily and diplomatically. 

It was not necessarily a foregone conclusion that the UK was ready to make a Continental commitment before 1904 but gradually British governments (both Conservative and Liberal) realised that what happened in Europe directly impacted on Britain. Far better to be involved in the affairs of Europe to shape outcomes that were more favourable to Britain.

Imagine however if Balfour's Conservative government decided not to sign the Entente Cordial in 1904, and that policy continued by the following Liberal government. If we washed our hands of Europe, German power would have grown to the point where France would have fallen into the orbit of Germany and become a satellite state. Any confrontation between Germany and Russia would have gone in the former's favour as the Tsar would have been without allies. Italy would have continued as a Central Power, adding further to German hegemony of the Continent.

Across the Channel Britain would have bobbed along in the wake of a militaristic and wealthy Germany, isolated and buffeted, gradually dropping in power and status to something similar to France. We may have avoided the First World War but the cost to Britain would have been even more tremendous.

Let's hope that we don't make the mistake that we avoided in 1904. As a European nation we need to influence what happens there. Europe united without Britain  is a danger to Britain. Let's just hope we are not too late to learn that lesson - or are we?

Take your seat

 

There has been a bench next to the Kingsway/Sunniside Road junction in Sunniside for as long as I can remember. It wasn't in a great state but that problem has been resolved. Planting Up Whickham, the new group of volunteers aiming to plant up areas in Sunniside and keep the village looking good, has paid for the bench to be replaced. The work is now done.

Letters and leaflets

We are now well into our next cycle of literature in Birtley ward. I was part of the team out in the ward yesterday. We shifted a significant quantity of both Focuses and letters. I was keeping my eyes peeled for literature from the other parties. I spotted nothing.

I will be back on Tuesday as I still have 2 patches left to deliver. My shoes have not yet been worn out but I suspect I will need a new pair by May.

History Society meeting on Wednesday

 

The next meeting of Sunniside History Society will be on Wednesday 3rd April at Sunniside Social Club (7pm). The speaker will be Geoff Purcell-Smith who will be speaking on Victorian social reformer Josephine Butler. All welcome.

Late arrival

 

I had planned to go to Lib Dem conference on Friday last week but a request for a goat meant a change of plan! I am often invited by Whickham Library to bring animals to their fairs. Unfortunately the Library's Easter fair coincided with Lib Dem spring conference so I took the decision to take a couple of goats to the fair on Saturday morning and then head down to York. Ant and Dec, our two young billy goats, were chosen as the animals going to the Library. 

Fortunately the rail journey from Newcastle to York is only an hour so I was at the conference by about 2pm. Now that I am officially old, I have a seniors' railcard, knocking a third off the price of a ticket. As the return fare was only £25, I didn't bother to book a hotel. I simply headed back home in the evening, saving me a ton of cash on hotel bills. It also meant I wasn't forking out on overpriced booze at the conference hotel!

I was back in York on Sunday morning, in time for Alistair Carmichael's speech which was quite entertaining. And of course there was Ed Davey's speech which was notable for a couple of issues which tend to be ignored by politicians generally: proportional representation and Europe. I was back home by 3pm.

Printing

 

This morning I was in the Lib Dem office printing hundreds of letters for Whickham South and Sunniside. Fortunately the folding machine was working, something of a new experience for me! The big job now is to get the letters stuffed into envelopes and then delivered. Expect some shoe leather to be burnt this coming week.

Missing conference

I had booked up for Lib Dem spring conference a few weeks ago with the expectation that I would be attending for the full three days (starting today). And then I got a message from Whickham Voluntary Library asking me if I would bring some animals to their Easter fair tomorrow. I didn't want to let them down and the appearance of lambs and goat kids outside the fair is always popular. So I told them I would bring a couple of our billy goat kids but would leave the fair at 12pm so I could catch the train to York for conference. It was useful that I hadn't got round to booking a hotel for my conference stay. Instead, I will travel down on Saturday afternoon, return home in the evening, then head back down to York first thing on Sunday morning, returning again in the afternoon. The train journey only takes an hour. It works out much cheaper than getting a hotel!

Is this news?

I'm not sure this merits the title of "news" but the PM today announced that there will not be a general election on 2nd May, the same day as the local elections. Is this a case of stating the bleedin' obvious? No PM is likely to voluntarily go early when his/her party is experiencing the loss of over half of their vote share. So, summer, autumn or winter it will be. I believe the latest date for the general election is 25th January. My money, were I a gambling person (I'm not!) would be on late October. That way the UK gets the election over before the US go to the polls. Imagine if we go after the US instead and all our worst nightmares come true and Trump wins. Imagine Labour and the Conservatives trying to explain what sort of relationship they would have with a Trump Whitehouse. That in itself could become a major election issue. 

Sadly, for the UK as a whole, we have months ahead of us of the Tories fighting themselves. While they are kick boxing themselves into potential oblivion Labour will be mouthing vacuous statements in a bid to tell voters nothing about their policies for fear of alienating the great British public. Looks like 2024 will be a year to forget!

Camera shy

 

We have become so used to online meetings over the past 4 years that in-person meetings now feel rather odd. So, on Tuesday, we had the odd situation of sitting with colleagues at the Gateshead Lib Dem exec at the Civic Centre. We even had sheets of paper rather than sharing something on a screen! The bulk of the meeting was about the local election campaign though Ron Beadle also gave quite a comprehensive report from the council group. That job used to be mine but I happily passed on the baton to Ron when I retired as Group Leader last year.

Dinner time

 

It seems Lib Dem local parties in the North East have developed a knack of organising fundraising dinners. Last autumn, Gateshead hosted Simon Hughes and Sunderland hosted Wendy Chamberlain MP. Coming shortly to Newcastle is Vince Cable but last week, Sunderland hosted another dinner with Jamie Stone MP as the guest speaker. Jamie is one of the Lib Dem MPs I barely know. He was elected many years after I stopped working for the Lib Dems so, other than his constituency (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) I knew next to nothing about him. He turned out to be quite an entertaining speaker. One of his claims to fame is that he was first elected in 2017, an unexpected victory for the Lib Dems. Given the drubbing we received, his gain of the constituency from the SNP must be regarded as something of a modest miracle!

On a brighter note, though the raffle seemed to go on for ever, I was one of the winners. The bad news is that the scented candle (not quite my thing) will be alighting at the next Sunniside History Society as a raffle prize!

At your convenience

 

The next meeting of Sunniside History Society will be held on Wednesday 6th March at 7pm at Sunniside Social Club. The speaker is Richard Pears and he will be talking about the history of "The British Toilet". So be ready to take your seat. This is not a crap subject. Hopefully the meeting will be flushed with success. Etc......

Campaigning in Ryton

 

Ryton ward in Gateshead used to be Lib Dem held. Sadly, it went Labour in the Coalition years and before now we were not in a position to mount a strong campaign. But that is changing. We have a new candidate and a new determination to take on Labour in the ward. Steve Kelly has been adopted by the Lib Dems to take on Labour in the May local elections.

He had a meet-the-people event outside the Coop this morning so I went down to give him a hand. My job was to stand next to the main road holding one of our big diamond posters. I had five toots of support from passing drivers and one person shouted at me (I'm not sure it was complimentary!) All-in-all it was a good event and our profile in Ryton is starting to go back up. The challenging news for me is that in addition to managing election campaigns in Birtley and Whickham South and Sunniside, I am now looking after Ryton as well. Looks like a busy few months ahead.

Delivery complete in Sunniside

 

Focus on Sunniside has now been delivered. Hooray! The last patch went out over the weekend when one of our helpers took the Streetgate area. This patch has grown by 89 houses in recent years due to new house building. 

With my ward's Focus now fully delivered, I was able to spend some time in Saltwell over the weekend, helping to deliver our latest Focus there. I hear on the grapevine that Labour were out in Saltwell as well. There are hints of aspiring wannabee MPs hoping to get the selection for the new Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency. There are also hints that Labour may leave the selection of their candidate to the last minute, meaning the national party will parachute in one of their favourites. Given that nearly half the wards in this constituency are represented by Lib Dems, this one will be one to watch at the general election.

More Focus deliveries

I was back in Birtley yesterday (Saturday 20th January) to deliver another patch of Focuses. And today I was delivering in my own ward. To be precise, I was delivering in Sunniside. We are aiming to get the village delivered by Friday though the weather may be a problem tomorrow.

Planning for our next meeting

I met up with Alan Guest, secretary of the Sunniside History Society, last night in Sunniside Club, to review some of the photos donated to the Society by Francis Newman. Many of the photos were taken in Sunniside 30 years ago though there were some which were much older. We made a selection of photos to present at the next meeting on 1st February. The aim is to get people to share their memories and possibly fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the events that caused the photos to be taken in the first place. Anyone interested in coming to the meeting is welcome. It starts in Sunniside Club at 7pm, £1 for Society members, £2 for visitors.

Happy birthday from the NHS

 

I turned 60 recently. As birthday presents from the nation, I was allowed free prescriptions, reduced rail fares and a poo kit!

The free prescriptions are no use to me, at least for the time being. I don't take any. The reduced rail fares are a bit more useful. Though the amount of travel I do is only a small fraction of what I did before 2017, I do have 3 short trips coming up. So a saving can be made by getting an older persons railcard. 

The poo kit however is the most important of the presents. I have seen 2 friends suffer from but also recover from bowel cancer. It's best not to take any risks. Ignoring the poo kit in the hope that I am good health continues is inviting problems. So, this present will be put to use shortly.

Delivering in Birtley

 

I was in Birtley on Monday helping to deliver our latest Lib Dem Focus. Somehow Birtley had avoided the snow. Not so in Sunniside though we had only about 1 cm. I will be back in Birtley later this week as I have one more patch to deliver. Hopefully Birtley will continue to be a snow free zone!

Bridge over troubled waters

 

It seems as though the Green Party in Gateshead are continuing to target Bridges ward. Another leaflet was popped through people's doors in December. Labour hold the ward and had previously won with comfortable majorities with opposition campaigns aimed at flying the flag. Labour's hold however is based on a low turnout. Any party that could mount a good campaign could run Labour close in the ward. Labour could well be on a bridge over troubled waters here.

The person featured in the leaflet is Rachel Cabral. This is an interesting choice as it appears that she has abandoned Saltwell. She had stood there in 2021, taking 185 votes and 4th place. In 2022 however, disaster struck when the Greens messed up their Saltwell nomination. Rachel Cabral stood in the ward, but without a political description. She recorded only 60 votes. She did not stand in Saltwell in 2023, the year the Lib Dems won the ward from Labour for the first time since the 1930s.

Perhaps her abandonment of Saltwell says a great deal about the Greens realization that the battle in the ward is between Lib Dems and Labour. I hope for the Greens' sake that they don't repeat their mistake on the local election nomination this year as they did in 2022!

Last delivery of 2023

 

I did my last Focus delivery of 2023 in my own ward of Whickham South and Sunniside between Christmas and new year. It was a good way of burning off some of those Christmas calories. The next edition of Focus for my ward is already partly written. More calorie burning is on its way!

Birtley eFocus no. 12

 Published tonight, the next eFocus for Birtley. Issues covered include:

• Birtley pool re-opening delayed;
• Security fencing at Birtley Swimming Centre;
• Joe joins Focus Team;
• Lloyds and Barclays branches closing on Team Valley;
• Ciaran chosen for Washington and Gateshead South;
• Have your say on Gateshead Council's budget.

You can read eFocus on this link.

Low Fell eFocus 130

The competition to be the first in 2024 to publish eFocus has been won by Low Fell. Edition 130 was sent to recipients a couple of days ago. Issues covered include:

·  Best wishes for 2024

·  Have your say on Gateshead Council's Budget plans

·  New salt bin at Eastwood Avenue

·  Meeting with the Police

·  Eastern Avenue

You can read Low Fell eFocus on this link.

You're nicked!

Labour's former whip and cabinet minister Nick Brown MP has announced he has resigned from the Labour Party and will not be standing at the general election next year. A complaint against him had been submitted to the Labour Party in September last year though there is no explanation as to what was at the centre of it. Whatever the basis of the complaint happens to be, the fact it is unresolved 15 months later does strike me as contrary to natural justice. Brown was suspended from Labour last year and with the complaint dragging on, it was looking likely that he would have been blocked from standing for Labour at the general election. After 40 years as MP for Newcastle East, he has thrown in the towel and announced his retirement.

There will of course be a stampede of hopeful Labour candidates aiming to fill the vacancy in the redrawn constituency. It would not surprise me if the powers-that-be in the Labour Party parachute in Nick Forbes, former Leader of Newcastle Council. His political career was cut short after a Labour selection meeting, attended by 13 members, chose a different council candidate, leaving poor Nick without a seat on the council. So could Nick Forbes be about to step out of the political graveyard? We shall see!

40 years of Focus photos

Sunniside History Society had their monthly meeting last week. With Christmas around the corner, there was a buffet which included an edible Christmas wreath (see above). We also had the annual quiz, which I put together. I have been writing and editing Focuses for nearly 40 years and as a result I have built up a big collection of photos around Gateshead. So this formed the basis of the quiz - 40 photos taken over the past 40 years of places in Gateshead before they were restored, demolished or changed in some way. People had to identify them. The winner got 31 points. The prize was a bottle of prosecco which admittedly has left over from my wedding reception in July.

The next meeting is on Wednesday 3rd January at Sunniside Social Club.

Ron selected for Gateshead Central and Whickham

I am delighted to announce that Ron Beadle has been selected as the Lib Dem candidate for the new Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency at the general election. The constituency includes two strong Lib Dem areas - Whickham (3 wards) and Low Fell (one ward) - as well as Saltwell, won by the Lib Dems from Labour in the May local elections this year. It means nearly half the residents of the constituency are represented by Liberal Democrats on Gateshead Council. The overall votes cast in May in wards in the new constituency are:

So, it's a good base from which to work. Ron could easily take on any MP currently representing all or part of a Gateshead constituency. So watch this battle for an interesting result.

Mick Henry appointed freeman of the borough

 

Former Gateshead Council Leader Mick Henry was appointed as a freeman of the borough last week. Mick presided over the regeneration of Gateshead Quays as a cultural centre. During his time as Leader, the Millennium Bridge was opened and the Sage (now the Glasshouse) and the Baltic Art Gallery opened. A record to be proud of. 

The video above is of Mick signing the register of freemen. Below is his acceptance speech.

Gateshead freeman ceremony - speech by David Olusaga

 

David Olusaga, one of Britain's top historians, was appointed a freeman of Gateshead on 4th December. You can view his acceptance speech above. David was raised in Gateshead and he spoke about his memories during his speech.

Gateshead freeman ceremony - David Olusaga signed the register

 

David Olusaga is one of Britain's top historians and he was raised in Gateshead. I am delighted to say that he was appointed as a freeman of the borough on 4th December. In this video he signed the register of freeman in the presence of the mayor.

The birthday party

 

It was my 60th birthday recently, and David's 66th. So we decided to have a party at Sunniside Social Club. I had a big fear in the morning that few would turn up. In the end, as the video I shot on the day shows (see above) there was a good turnout. The cakes were demolished in minutes!

Blame the Liberal Democrats!

It's Labour's favourite tradition in Gateshead - blame the Liberal Democrats for everything. War, famine, plague, climate change. Just blame the Liberal Democrats! At full council last week, Angela Douglas, cabinet member for leisure, took the opportunity to blame everything that has happened since 2015 on the Lib Dems. We don't often hear from Angela. In January, cabinet debated the future of leisure services in Gateshead. The debate took about 2 hours. Angela, whose portfolio was being debated, said nothing. She sat silently through the meeting. Quite what Gateshead gets for the £16K paid to her for being the cabinet member for leisure services is not clear. But it was a pleasant change to hear from Angela at the council meeting last week.

Labour nationally have committed to continuing the current regime of tax and spending. That means onging cuts to local government. Indeed, Labour Gateshead are preparing not for a government that will splash the cash as they have demanded over the past 13 years. Instead, they are planning on the basis of the next government continuing the cuts. Quite how Angela and her "socialist" chums will explain their party's support for Conservative cuts would be interesting to hear. What is the probability of her blaming the Liberal Democrats!?

One million viewings but here comes the competition!

A milestone in my blogging world - my blog has now had one million viewings! It only took me 17 years to get to that figure, aided kindly by lots of Labour members who are drawn to its contents and then criticise me in council meetings! But the crown of Gateshead's blogger of the year may be about to slip from my grasp. None other than Labour Leader Martin Gannon has launched a blog, via Gateshead Council website.

So what essay length posts can we hope to read as we all sit huddled around our ipads waiting for the next thrilling episode of "The Leader's thoughts"? To make his blog even more interesting, Martin has filmed a 5 minute video in which he talks about the big issues of the day. Three days after uploading the video, viewing figures have already reached a whopping total of 5 (and one of them was me!) If you don't want to view the video, a transcript is on the blog with all the "errs" and "ummms" carefully edited out!

So everyone, give Martin's blog a fighting chance and visit it now. Get those viewing figures up! After all, Martin only needs a million more visits to catch up with me!

https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/article/25804/Leader-s-blog-Thursday-23-November

Sandwiches in Saltwell

 

I was in Saltwell on Sunday, helping to deliver the latest edition of Focus. Saltwell is a very compact ward with a significant number of terraces, often with up to 300 homes in a street. Delivery rounds often consist of one street. Delivery times however are short. It took me only 25 minutes to deliver one street, which was about 8% of the total ward! Over in my ward, the delivery patches contain fewer delivery points but take much longer to do because of the gardens around which we have to walk.

I did however cross paths with Saltwell Labour Councillor John Adams. He arrived in his car and hung around the end of the street I was delivering. I assume he had not driven from his home which was only about a 5 minute walk away, if that. Surely, anyone wanting to save the planet would have walked such a short journey? So, wherever he had been previously, I hope he was having a productive day.

Meanwhile, back at Cllr Leanne Brand's flat, which was HQ for the day, sandwiches left over from my birthday party at Sunniside Social Club on Saturday were being consumed by a small army of Lib Dem helpers. Then it was time again to deliver another patch before heading home.

Let them eat cake

 

I turned 60 recently. Meanwhile David turned 66 a few weeks ago. Both milestone life events so we decided to have a joint 126th birthday party at Sunniside Club. My sister Esther made the cakes. There were only crumbs left by the end. We did however manage to use up the 8 bottles of Prosecco left over from our wedding. 

So thank you to the 50 people who joined the celebration.

Whickham Christmas tree lights switch-on

 

Father Barry Abbott switched on the Whickham Christmas tree lights yesterday. I was inevitably there with my video camera - see video about.

Me, Cllr Sonya Hawkins, Cllr Peter Craig and Father Barry Abbott join local police next to the tree on Church Green.

One of me next to the tree.

Low Fell eFocus no. 129

 The Lib Dem team in Low Fell today published their latest edition of eFocus. Issues covered include:

• Christmas lights switch on;
• Armistice day;
• Dryden Road tree pruning;
• Looking for a child's Christmas present?;
• Recycling in Gateshead.

You can read eFocus on this link.

A parallel universe!

Back from feeding my livestock this morning and I struggled to believe what I heard when I put the tv on to watch the news. Braverman gone (less of a surprise) but Cameron back in government with a life peerage as well! I felt like I was living in a strange parallel universe. Is this for real? From memory, this is the first time in 50 years a former prime minister has returned to government to serve another PM. This may need checking but I think Alec Douglas-Home, PM 1963-64, returned to government as Foreign Secretary in the Heath government of the early 70s.

The question now is what will the right of the Conservative party do now that their standard bearer (Braverman) got herself booted out of the cabinet? And how long will it take the Conservative right to realise that elections are won in the centre ground. It took Labour a number of election defeats, especially 2019, before the "comrades" abandoned all their crackpot rubbish of the Corbyn period of lunacy to return to the middle ground. Will the Conservative right try to drag their party further away from the centre ground now that Braverman is free to cause even more chaos.

Remembrance Sunday Day in Whickham

 

Yesterday I attended the Remembrance Sunday parade and wreath-laying service in Whickham. Over 40 organisations took part, making it the biggest parade and service in Gateshead. Cllr Jonathan Mohammed laid the wreath on behalf of residents of Whickham South and Sunniside. The video above covers the service and the wreath-laying.

Councillors Sonya Hawkins, Peter Maughan and Jonathan Mohammed at the Whickham war memorial after the wreaths were laid.

Local Remembrance parades and services

It is Remembrance Sunday on 12th November. I will be attending the parade and service in Whickham though Cllr Jonathan Mohammed will be laying the wreath on behalf of our Whickham South and Sunniside residents. Below are some details about the various local events.

Whickham

Whickham now hosts the biggest Remembrance Parade and wreath-laying service in Gateshead. For those wishing to see the parade, this will move off from the eastern point of Back Row at 10:30 am, arriving at Whickham cenotaph at approximately 10:40 am.

A Remembrance service and wreath-laying ceremony will commence at the cenotaph at 10:45 am. Cllrs Peter Maughan, Sonya Hawkins and Jonathan Mohammed will lay wreaths on behalf of Whickham residents.

The Deputy Lord Lieutenant will be in attendance and the ceremony will be followed by a march past and then a short service in St. Mary’s Church.

Road Closures
To accommodate the parade, School Street and Back Row will be closed from 10:00am until approximately 10:45 am - and Front Street from Rectory Lane to Fellside Road will be closed from around 10:30 am until approximately 10:45 am.

Road closures will be also in place for the Remembrance service and wreath-laying ceremony - Front Street between Rectory Lane and Broom Lane will be closed from approximately 10:30 am until 11:30 am.

If there are any queries or any wreath layers who have previously not been in touch, could they please contact; Cllr. Peter Craig before Sunday.

Dunston

Assemble at St Nicholas Church at 10am for a service followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the War Memorial, Dunston at 11am. 

Marley Hill

Assemble at St Cuthbert's Church, Marley Hill, a Remembrance Service combined with Methodists, at 10.15am for an Act of Remembrance and wreath-laying.

Swalwell

Service at the Holy Trinity Church, Hexham Old Road at 9am. This will be followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at 10am.

eFocus edition 184

 We recently published our latest edition of eFocus for the Whickham area (no. 184). Issues covered include:

• Gateshead Council not to be cut in size;
• King Arthur Garden at Whinnies Community Garden opened;
• Tyne Bridge repairs taking place;
• Central Nursery arson and demolition;
• Leven House plan withdrawn;
• Planning applications;
• Sunniside leek show;
• Musical Comedy comes to Swalwell;
• What happens to your waste for recycling;
• Rained off - but Whickham flowerbeds will be replanted.

You can read eFocus on this link.

Delivering in Swalwell

 

Last week I was in the unusual situation of having no Focuses to delivery. It was a situation that changed rapidly thanks to the Lib Dem team in Whickham North. They discovered I had no leaflets and decided to help me out of my urgent need to put newsletters through people's doors by giving me 200 to deliver. Two streets in Swalwell enjoyed my company - Park Terrace and Napier Road, the latter being where I lived for 15 years. Though I am a great fan of gardens, I rather liked the fact that three quarters of the houses to which I delivered had no garden space at all. I delivered all 200 in 25 minutes.

Regional conference in Gateshead

 

North East Lib Dem regional conference took place today and Gateshead were the hosts. The gathering took place in the Little Theatre in Saltwell.

The main session in the morning was a Q&A with Ed Davey online. He also talked about the forthcoming general election campaign and the success of the Lib Dems in the region in the local elections this year.

In the afternoon, there was an awards ceremony. Gateshead won the Alistair Wardlaw trophy for our progress in the local elections and developing the local party over the past year.

The biggest challenge of the day was the raffle! With 28 prizes and too many Lib Dems being far too nice by refusing to claim more than one prize, the end of conference had to be delayed!