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.

Not flying the flag

 

Over the weekend, the above leaflet was delivered in my ward, along with lots of other leaflets about gardening services and pizza home delivery. The back page is shown above. Disregarding the completely incorrect imprint, people were encouraged to display the poster. I have seen one across the whole ward. It seems the flags aren't out for Reform.

Magazine delivered

 

I am delighted to announce that we finished delivery of our election magazine today! The whole of the ward is now done.

Reform candidate no.3 in trouble

In Gateshead, so far we've had one Reform candidate disappear (no explanation given) and one candidate booted out because he forgot to tell Reform he had previously been a member of the BNP. Now another candidate is in trouble. Linda McFarlane, standing in Chopwell and Rowlands Gill for Reform, has been exposed for her white supremacist views on social media.

Please note that you may find the following deeply offensive.

McFarlane has called for a "white Britain", Starmer and Lammy "should be shot", migrants "should be drowned" and only white people should be allowed to stand for Parliament. Hope Not Hate has referred McFarlane and the evidence to Reform's national party. They have promised a thorough investigation. Three days on and nothing. Well there's a surprise.

The good news is that McFarlane is likely to go down to defeat in Chopwell and Rowlands Gill. It would take a nuclear armed confrontation for Labour to be stripped of the ward. It is one of the strongest Labour areas in the universe. If Labour lose it, it's the end of the world for them.

More about McFarlane on this link.

2 down, 64 to go!

We are two weeks into the local election campaign in Gateshead and Reform have already lost 2 candidates (that's an average of one a week). Firstly, Peter Gray has resigned in Crawcrook and Greenside. The reasons for this are not clear. Yesterday brought us the second loss - David Prior was kicked out because of his previously undeclared membership of the racist, anti-semitic and far right BNP.

Meanwhile, across the border in Durham, Reform have now lost their 6th Councillor since taking over last May. Dawn Saunders went Independent last night. Meanwhile, 5 Reform candidates have dropped out of the running for the Scottish Parliament (including 2 who said they never intended standing!) and in Wales, Reform have lost 6 candidates in the race for the Senedd.

Back here in Gateshead, we are 2 Reform candidates down, only 64 to go!

Reform's BNP candidate kicked out

Yet another example of Reform's useless vetting of candidates was on display last night when David Prior was expelled, half way through the election campaign here in Gateshead. Prior had previously been in the BNP, membership of which is regarded as incompatible with Reform. Prior had been chosen as one of the three Reform candidates for Saltwell, a ward which contains one of the largest orthodox Jewish communities outside London.

The BNP was at its peak about 18 years ago. It was known for its far right stance and anti-semitism. They did however hit the headlines when their membership list was leaked. It has been on WikiLeaks ever since. That was what did it for Prior. The question has to be asked, who else lurks in the ranks of Reform? And do all of Reform's candidates support the expulsion?

Meanwhile, the Reform national party (or is that a company?) says all support for Prior's campaign has been withdrawn. It's odd therefore that on Saltwell Reform Facebook, you can find all of this:

It's been a day since Prior was expelled but their joint Facebook posts are, as I write this, still up.

Chuck out the checker?

Tonight I was sent by a colleague the link to the Gateshead page on Poll Check. I've always had a bit of a sceptic view of polls that take the average of national polls and then project them onto ward contests. There is a significant proportion of the electorate which votes for a different party in local elections to national elections. Add into the equation some basic mistakes. For example, in Gateshead, the Conservatives are fielding only 14 candidates, leaving 8 wards in which Conservative candidates are absent. Yet Poll Checker give the Conservatives a small share of the vote in Birtley South, one of the wards where the Conservatives are not standing. Admittedly, they are projected to get only 1.2%. Nevertheless, that could be the difference between winning and losing. So, there are some Conservative ghosts in these statistics.

But let's have some fun anyway with Poll Checker's projections. In my ward of Whickham South and Sunniside, the Conservatives get a barely noticeable 0.7%. Since 1988, Labour have always come second in the ward. This time they are projected to come 4th with 10.5%. So Labour have vacated the position of runner-up to Reform.

Thankfully, the Lib Dems are projected to hold all three seats in the ward.

So, do we chuck out the checker? Let's see how they perform over the next couple of weeks and then decide.

Reform bar chart shows Gateshead is Lib Dem/Reform battle

Thank you Reform for publishing the above bar chart showing Gateshead is a battle between Reform and Lib Dems. It speaks for itself!

Reform's attack on Lib Dems in Gateshead

Reform are circulating a leaflet in Gateshead which is packed full of attacks on the Lib Dems. With the meltdown of Labour, Reform's leaflet shows just how much the local elections in Gateshead have become a two horse race between Lib Dems and Reform. In their leaflet, Reform attack Lib Dems for being focused on local issues.

"Like other wards, in Low Fell they [the Lib Dems] 'focus' on minor local issues rather than what really matters," claims Reform. I guess Reform have not realised this is a LOCAL election. But Reform clearly believe fixing potholes, emptying bins, providing care for the elderly, tackling flytipping and so on are "minor" and of no consequence. But the issues Reform normally shout about - stopping the boats - is nothing to do with local government.

Among the other attacks on the Lib Dems was one about Southwark Council in which they claim "enforcement of a catastrophic roads policy leading to gridlock. The problem with this statement is that Southwark is currently run by Labour, not the Lib Dems. Oooops!

Don't ring us....

Our thanks to Hope Not Hate for this slide and the revelations about the history of Mike Porritt's business activities.  Who is he? He's one of the Reform candidates in Whickham South and Sunniside ward of Gateshead Council. Back in 2007, Mr Porritt's car supermarket, "carshock" collapsed and he was forced into bankruptcy. Now, Mr Porritt is offering his business experience to run Gateshead Council. I'm sure Gateshead's finance officers will not be in a hurry to take up Mr Porritt's kind offer. More a case of "don't ring us..."

You can read the full story on this link.

Reform chaos reaches Gateshead

It didn't take long! Reform chaos has started lapping at the political shores of Gateshead. Peter Gray, one of the three Reform candidates for Crawcrook and Greenside has resigned. Except it is not as straightforward as that. His resignation was too late to remove his name from the ballot papers. So Reform hobble forward in the ward with only 2 cylinders firing, dragging along with them their former colleague in tow. If he is elected, there will be an immediate by-election in the ward, costing in the region of £10K. It seems Reform have made an interesting start to the election campaign.

So, one Reform candidate down, just 65 to go.

Only 14 Conservatives

Nominations for the local elections in Gateshead closed on Thursday last week and candidates were announced on Friday. One of the notable points to emerge is that the Conservatives have put forward only 14 candidates for the 66 seats available. The last time the Conservatives failed to field a full slate of candidates was in the late 1980s. Since then they have fielded candidates for every vacancy. In a normal year, there are 22 seats up for election in Gateshead. In 2004, all 66 seats were contested because of boundary changes and the Conservatives fielded a full set of candidates. 22 years on and the Conservatives are fielding a team so small, it leaves many wards without a Conservative candidate at all.

This is a truly appalling situation for the Conservatives. They last topped a poll in Gateshead in 1992, 34 years ago, when the last surviving Conservative councillor held his seat of Low Fell (it went Lib Dem four years later). Their absence from the Council did not mean they were absent from the electoral battle. Until now. I understand that other areas are seeing the collapse of the Conservatives  so we are not talking about their disintegration as a Gateshead specific issue. The malaise is wider, much wider.

There are some good people in the Conservative Party who are horrified with the Reform lite direction in which their party is moving. Centrists and right of centre are looking for a new home. They are repelled by the Reform Party and want nothing to do with them. Pragmatic liberal conservatives can still play a role in politics, but not in the Conservative Party where their efforts are now wasted. If you are a liberal minded, pro-European, caring Conservative, it's time to join the Liberal Democrats.

The Team photo

 

The Whickham South and Sunniside team. Polling day is 7th May.

Election slides

 

Along with my colleagues Jonathan Mohammed and Marilynn Ord, we have been nominated for Whickham South and Sunniside ward of Gateshead Council. Polling day is 7th May. 

Nomination accepted

 

I am seeking re-election to Gateshead Council. Nomination papers went in earlier this week and were accepted. I have already done 11 terms as councillor for Whickham South and Sunniside, starting in 1987. Four weeks of solid campaigning ahead of us. Given Gateshead Lib Dems have been working solidly on the elections since May 2024, the next four weeks shouldn't be much different for us!

Polling day is 7th May.

Promoted by Ron Beadle on behalf of Jonathan Wallace (Liberal Democrats), c/o 21 Beaconsfield Avenue Low Fell NE9 5XT.

Daffs on display

 

As I travel around my ward, I spot things that fall into the categories of Good, Bad and Ugly. This one definitely falls into the Good category. This is the daffodil bed ay Byermoor next to the A692 and very close to the border with Co Durham. It comes up blooming every year and makes a great display for people coming into Gateshead.