Elections bring mixed emotions for Labour
OPPOSITION HOPES OF TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE ARE DASHED
A FRUSTRATING election night for Labour nationally was mirrored by mixed emotions for the party’s leaders in the North East.
While hopes of making big gains elsewhere in the country failed to materialise for Jeremy Corbyn, voters in Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Gateshead largely opted for the region’s Labour-led status quo.
The biggest upheaval came on Wearside – where Labour did take a hit in the polls, albeit while maintaining an overwhelming majority.
The Liberal Democrats doubled their number of seats by claiming victory in Pallion, Millfield and Sandhill, while the Tories boosted their ranks from six to eight.
In Newcastle, however, opposition parties’ hopes of taking full advantage of the city’s first all-out elections since 2004 - with all 78 council seats up for grabs - were dashed.
The Lib Dem opposition ended the night having lost a battleground seat to Labour in Ouseburn, while the Conservatives have still not won in Newcastle since the mid-1990s despite party chiefs believing progress is being made.
Council leader Nick Forbes praised his councillors for taking nothing for granted - on what he called a “very good night for Labour in Newcastle” - amid memories of the Lib Dems seizing control of the council 14 years ago.
Gateshead offered no surprises Labour maintaining its majority of 54 seats to the Lib Dems’ 12, losing in Dunston Hill and Wickham East ward but picking up one in Ryton, Crookhill and Stella.
Labour made three very narrow gains in North Tyneside - claiming Monkseaton North and Cullercoats from the Conservatives and Northumberland from the Liberal Democrats.
But Labour’s elected mayor Norma Redfearn saw her party lose a cabinet member in Ian Grayson, who lost by 62 votes to the Tories in Monkseaton South, and called for her party to be “clearer” on what they stand for nationally.
The Conservatives will also take a glimmer of hope from South Tyneside, where they prevented Labour from gaining 100 per cent control.
Jeff Milburn regained the Cleadon and East Boldon seat he lost in 2016, but is the only opposition member up against Labour’s 53-strong group.
Newcastle’s Lib Dem leader is confident the city is not becoming a “one-party state” – despite failing to cut Labour’s majority in the local elections.
The opposition party ended the night with 19 seats on the council, one fewer than it had started with.
While long-serving councillor Gareth Kane lost his Ouseburn seat by just 12 votes, the Lib Dems did make gains in Castle, Fawdon and West Gosforth, and Manor Park under the city’s newly-redrawn electoral map.
This was Newcastle’s first all-out election since 2004 - when the Lib Dems took control of the council following a major boundary review in 2016.
Coun Anita Lower, re-elected in Castle, said: “I am pleased that we have gained some seats.
“With the new boundaries we have gone into new territory and held onto others.
“I am disappointed that we have lost in Ouseburn. Gareth has done a really good job there, but it is a student ward and things change so often and it is really tough. I am sure he will be back again.”
Coun Lower added that she was encouraged by what she sees as growing competition among Newcastle’s political parties.
The Lib Dems dashed Tory hopes of a long-awaited return to the council chamber by winning all three Gosforth seats, while the Green Party’s Andrew Gray polled more than 1,000 votes in Heaton.
Labour increased its majority in North Tyneside thanks to three narrow wins in a largely straightforward election night for the party.
They took Monkseaton North and Cullercoats from the Conservatives and Northumberland ward from the Liberal Democrats.
The only bump in the road for Labour was losing Monkseaton South to the Tories by 62 votes - and cabinet member Ian Grayson in the process.
Labour’s elected mayor, Norma Redfearn, said: “I’m sad to have lost a colleague but overall I’m pleased to see the people of North Tyneside have put their faith in us.
“Nationally it has been a frustrating night for us and I worry people don’t always know what we stand for, we need to be clearer.”
There was no change in Gateshead Council’s Labour majority.
The party still holds 54 seats to the Lib Dems’ 12 and the saying ‘you win some, you lose some’ sums up the little change that happened.
Labour lost just one seat to the Lib Dems in the Dunston Hill and Wickham East ward, but picked up another in Ryton, Crookhill and Stella ward where two seats were up for grabs.
Votes came nail-bitingly close in the Ryton, Crookhill and Stella ward where two seats were up for grabs. After a recount Labour’s Christopher Buckley took one seat from Lib Dem Christine McHatton with just 28 votes between them.
Coun Martin Gannon said there had been so surprises in the results.
Dunston Hill and Wickham East ward changed hands from Labour’s Allison Thompson to Lib Dem Kevin McClurey, who took a majority of 568 votes.
Coun Gannon defended his Deckham seat with 1,229 votes to the Lib Dems’ 346.
His cabinet colleagues Mary Foy, cabinet member for health and well-being and Angela Douglas, cabinet member for culture, sport and leisure, both held onto their seats in Lamesley and Bridges wards with strong majorities.