IT HAS BEEN A WEEK TO REMEMBER – AND FORGET – IN POLITICS
IT has been quite a week for the Labour Party.
Nationally, nine MPS walked away in protest over Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, potentially teeing up the great schism the party has been threatening to have for a long time.
Mr Corbyn called on the renegades to resign, and they have urged their colleagues to join them.
Locally, left-wing Jamie Driscoll won the right to stand for the party in the North of Tyne election, surpassing Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes in the process.
Some weeks, Labour’s splits are concealed. But this week they weren’t.
Now two big questions loom over the party in the North East.
First, can the campaign forces which drove Coun Driscoll’s campaign get him over the line in the May 2 election?
And what is next for Coun Forbes, the man who has become synonymous with the region’s politics?
Before Coun Driscoll convinces the people of the North of Tyne region to vote for him, he’ll hope to have the whole of the party’s activist base behind him.
But despite calls for unity – not least from Coun Forbes himself – it appears that battle is far from over.
Speaking anonymously, one councillor said: “The problem with the Momentum wing of the party is they can swing and internal election but don’t know how to win a public vote.
“I don’t know how many people we’ll see out on the doorsteps in the rain knocking on doors and trying to convince people who don’t already agree with Labour.”
The councillor also suggested it would be a bitter pill for swallow for some councillors and activists in the area to campaign for Coun Driscoll because they see the left as the root of division in the party.
Newcastle councillor Rebecca Shatwell, who backed Coun Driscoll’s campaign, said Labour activists need to fall in line if they are to win the election.
She said: “It’s vital that the party is united behind Jamie to ensure a Labour mayor is elected for North of Tyne.
“As Jamie has said, our region has been bled dry by Westminster and Tory austerity is crushing our communities.”
Asked if Momentum could help get Coun Driscoll elected, she said: “Labour locally is a strong campaigning party that works together to win public elections.
“This can only be strengthened by Jamie’s policies that have energised local activists and which speak to local people, communities and businesses who want to see more economic democracy, shared wealth kept in the region, social housing, and jobs that pay a real living wage.”
The divides in Labour appeared to show when Coun Driscoll’s shock win was announced to a room of party members and journalists at the Park Hotel in Tynemouth on Wednesday.
Interim North of Tyne mayor Norma Redfearn read out the result and congratulated him – just weeks after publicly backing Coun Forbes for the job.
And as the newly elected nominee stepped up to the microphone, one councillor stormed out of the room.
Another interested party who was watching on was Cullercoats councillor Karen Lee, who put herself forward for the selection only to withdraw before the shortlisting process.
She said: “The Labour Party is going through challenging times but I think it will pull itself together. I would be silly to deny there’s a lot of tension in the camp, it’s not a bed of roses right now.
It remains to be seen whether Jamie can win but he certainly brings freshness, even though Nick was the more experienced of the two. Personally, I’ll be behind our candidate and doing everything I can to help him win.” So what next for Coun Forbes? He rose quickly to become one of the country’s most prominent council leaders at a relatively young age and still holds important roles within the party.
He hopes to be re-elected as leader in May but a challenge against him can’t be ruled out.
One of his campaign team said: “Nick has incredible experience and he’s going to continue fighting for Newcastle and standing up to this Tory Government.
“He is remaining as leader fully supported by his colleagues.
“Of course he’s greatly disappointed and he would have relished the opportunity but he’s committed to contributing to getting a Labour mayor elected.”