2019 North of Tyne mayoral election

The inaugural North of Tyne mayoral election was held on 2 May 2019 to elect the first Mayor of the North of Tyne. The area is made up of Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland. Subsequent elections will be held every five years.

2019 North of Tyne mayoral election

2 May 2019 2024 →
Turnout32.33%
 
Candidate Jamie Driscoll Charlie Hoult John McCabe
Party Labour Co-op Conservative Independent
1st Round vote 62,034 45,494 31,507
Percentage 33.9% 24.9% 17.2%
2nd Round vote 76,862 60,089 Eliminated
Percentage 56.1% 43.9% Eliminated

 
Candidate John Appleby Hugh Jackson
Party Liberal Democrats UKIP
1st Round vote 23,768 20,131
Percentage 13.0% 11.0%
2nd Round vote Eliminated Eliminated
Percentage Eliminated Eliminated

Election results by local authority

Background

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The election followed the creation of the North of Tyne Combined Authority in November 2018, covering the area of Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland councils.[1][2] Councils which are not currently part of the devolution deal but were previously included in unsuccessful discussions to establish a mayor of the North East, Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Durham County Council, Sunderland City Council and South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, were invited to join the authority.[3]

Procedure

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This election uses the supplementary voting system, with electors having two votes. One vote for the first choice candidate, with an optional vote for a second choice candidate used if no candidate has more than 50% of the first choice votes.

Campaign

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Newcastle councillor Jamie Driscoll was announced as Labour's candidate in February 2019, having been elected on a platform of local procurement, promoting collective ownership, starting a "People's Bank", starting housing co-operatives and a renewable energy company.[4][5] He defeated Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes to win the party's nomination.[4]

The Liberal Democrats announced John Appleby, who was formerly head of mechanical engineering at Newcastle University, as their candidate in December 2018. He had previously been a councillor, mayoral candidate and parliamentary candidate.[6]

Driscoll was the bookmakers' favourite, followed by Charlie Hoult.[7]

Candidates

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Labour

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Jamie Driscoll was selected as Labour's candidate for Mayor of the North of Tyne on 20 February 2019, with voting having taken place from late January 2019.[4]

Labour selection
Candidate Votes Percentage
Jamie Driscoll 2,514
56.8%
Nick Forbes 1,913
43.2%

Labour required candidates to nominate themselves in November 2018, ahead of a shortlisting and nomination process culminating in a selection vote in January 2019.[8] Paul Brannen, Jamie Driscoll, Nick Forbes and Ian Grayson nominated themselves at this point.[8][9] Grayson withdrew from selection in December, announcing his support for Forbes.[10] To be on the selection ballot, candidates need at least two nominations from local parties or affiliated trade unions.[11] The party re-opened self-nominations in December 2018 in the hope of improving the diversity of candidates available.[12] North Tyneside councillor Karen Lee nominated herself in this round. Driscoll received nominations from five Constituency Labour Party's and four affiliated trade unions, whilst Forbes received nominations from four Constituency Labour Party's and five affiliated trade unions and Lee was nominated by two Constituency Labour Party's. Brannen withdrew with one nomination from a trade union.[13] Lee withdrew in January, considering her late entry into the selection to have limited her campaign.[14]

Driscoll was backed by Noam Chomsky, Clive Lewis, Ken Loach, Paul Mason, John McDonnell and Laura Pidcock.[15][16][17] Forbes was backed by Andy Burnham, Brendan Foster and Norma Redfearn as well as former candidates Paul Brannen, Ian Grayson and Karen Lee.[16]

Judith Kirton-Darling, Catherine McKinnell and Chi Onwurah had previously been discussed as potential candidates.[14]

As Driscoll was also selected by the Co-operative Party, he sought election as a joint Labour and Co-operative Party candidate.[18]

Conservative

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The Conservative Party's selection process was due to conclude in early 2019.[11] The party decided to delay selection until the Labour candidate was announced.[15]

Business park manager Charlie Hoult announced that he'd be seeking the party's nomination in early March. He was endorsed by the property developer and former owner of Newcastle United F.C. John Hall.[19] Former mayor of North Tyneside Linda Arkley announced her candidacy for the Conservative nomination on 8 March.[20]

Charlie Hoult was named as the Conservative candidate on 15 March.[21]

Former minister Martin Callanan, former parliamentary candidates Steve Kyte and Ian Levy, and former goalkeeper Steve Harper were previously discussed as potential candidates.[14][16][22]

Liberal Democrats

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The Liberal Democrats selected former Newcastle Councillor John Appleby to be their candidate.[23] Other people who were discussed as potential candidates included David Faulkner, the former leader of Newcastle City Council, Fiona Hall, a former MEP for North East England, former council group leader Anita Lower, former parliamentary candidate Julie Pörksen and councillor Greg Stone.[14]

Green Party

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The Green Party did not contest the election due to the high (£5000) deposit required, and concerns that the way the combined authority had been set up did not represent "truly democratic devolution".[11][24]

UK Independence Party

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The UK Independence Party selected former Conservative councillor Hugh Jackson as its candidate in April 2019.[25] Jackson had resigned as a Conservative councillor in 2008 after once joking about using euthanasia to reduce the number of children in care as a response to Labour policy suggestions.[26]

Independents

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John McCabe, businessman and then president of the North East England Chamber of Commerce, confirmed his intention to stand on 4 March 2019.[27][28][29]

Jeremy Middleton, Ammar Mirza and David Ord were previously discussed as potential candidates.[11][14][30]

Results

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Source:[31]

2019 North of Tyne mayoral election
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Labour Jamie Driscoll 62,034 33.9% 14,828 76,862 56.1%
Conservative Charlie Hoult 45,494 24.9% 14,595 60,089 43.9%
Independent John McCabe 31,507 17.2%
Liberal Democrats John Appleby 23,768 13.0%
UKIP Hugh Jackson 20,131 11.0%
Majority 16,773 12.2%
Turnout 182,934

Results by local authority

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Newcastle upon Tyne

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2019 North of Tyne mayoral election: Newcastle upon Tyne
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Labour Jamie Driscoll 26,077 40.4% 5,909 31,986 66.2%
Conservative Charlie Hoult 11,559 17.9% 4,806 16,365 33.8%
Liberal Democrats John Appleby 10,877 16.8%
Independent John McCabe 9,303 14.4%
UKIP Hugh Jackson 6,770 10.5%
Majority 15,621 32.3%
Turnout 64,586

North Tyneside

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2019 North of Tyne mayoral election: North Tyneside
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Labour Jamie Driscoll 19,858 37.5% 4,335 24,193 59.6%
Conservative Charlie Hoult 12,778 24.1% 3,598 16,376 40.4%
Independent John McCabe 7,992 15.1%
UKIP Hugh Jackson 7,050 13.3%
Liberal Democrats John Appleby 5,335 10.1%
Majority 7,817 19.3%
Turnout 53,013

Northumberland

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2019 North of Tyne mayoral election: Northumberland
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Conservative Charlie Hoult 21,157 32.4% 6,191 27,348 56.9%
Labour Jamie Driscoll 16,099 24.6% 4,584 20,683 43.1%
Independent John McCabe 14,212 21.8%
Liberal Democrats John Appleby 7,556 11.6%
UKIP Hugh Jackson 6,311 9.7%
Majority 6,665 13.9%
Turnout 65,335

References

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  1. ^ Walker, Jonathan (2 November 2018). "It's official: New North of Tyne Combined Authority is launched". nechronicle. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  2. ^ "'A golden era' heralded for North East as North of Tyne devolution deal becomes law". GOV.UK. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  3. ^ Walker, Jonathan (29 October 2018). "Minister: More councils could join North of Tyne Authority". nechronicle. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Seddon, Sean (20 February 2019). "Labour candidate for North of Tyne Mayor election unveiled". nechronicle. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Labour choose socialist grassroots activist as mayoral candidate". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  6. ^ Holland, Daniel (20 December 2018). "North of Tyne Mayor candidate revealed by Lib Dems". nechronicle. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Betting on politics: the North of Tyne mayor". MoneyWeek. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  8. ^ a b Seddon, Sean (28 November 2018). "Revealed: Labour's four North of Tyne mayoral candidates". nechronicle. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  9. ^ Seddon, Sean (7 November 2018). "Labour's Paul Brannen announced as first candidate for North of Tyne mayor".
  10. ^ Seddon, Sean (4 December 2018). "North of Tyne mayoral candidate pulls out of race - and backs rival". nechronicle. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d Seddon, Sean (6 December 2018). "North of Tyne mayor: All candidates, dates and key information". nechronicle. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  12. ^ Seddon, Sean (12 December 2018). "The Labour party is in disarray over the North of Tyne election". nechronicle. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  13. ^ Seddon, Sean (14 January 2019). "Corbyn supporters eyeing upset in Labour's North of Tyne mayor race". nechronicle. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  14. ^ a b c d e Seddon, Sean (24 November 2017). "Who would you have as the first North of Tyne mayor?". nechronicle. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Pro-Corbyn group challenges 'heir of Blair' to be metro mayor". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Seddon, Sean (10 February 2019). "Labour and Tories preparing to announce North of Tyne mayor candidates". nechronicle. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  17. ^ Seddon, Sean (20 February 2019). "Who is Jamie Driscoll? Labour's left-wing North of Tyne mayoral candidate". nechronicle. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  18. ^ "Notice of statement of persons nominated" (PDF). Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  19. ^ Seddon, Sean (7 March 2019). "Ex-NUFC owner backing Charlie Hoult for North of Tyne mayor". nechronicle. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  20. ^ Seddon, Sean (8 March 2019). "Linda Arkley announces run to be Tory North of Tyne mayor candidate". nechronicle. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  21. ^ "Fourth candidate named for North of the Tyne Mayoral elections". ITV News. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  22. ^ Seddon, Sean (10 February 2019). "Steve Harper for Mayor? Ex-Newcastle keeper on rumours about future in politics". nechronicle. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  23. ^ "North of Tyne Mayor candidate revealed by Lib Dems". Chronicle Live. 20 December 2018.
  24. ^ O'Connell, Ben (1 March 2019). "Green Party will not be putting candidate forward for the North of Tyne mayor". nechronicle. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  25. ^ "Late entry to the North of Tyne mayoral race by Ukip". www.newsguardian.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  26. ^ Holland, Daniel (3 April 2019). "Mayor candidate once joking about using euthanasia to reduce number of kids in care as a response to Labour policy suggestions". nechronicle. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  27. ^ Whitfield, Graeme (28 February 2019). "Leading figure in North East business community mulling mayoral race". nechronicle. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  28. ^ Whitfield, Graeme (4 March 2019). "John McCabe confirms bid to become mayor of North of Tyne". nechronicle. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  29. ^ "Chamber of Commerce appoints new North East president". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  30. ^ Seddon, Sean (20 March 2019). "The Byker dad-of-six who is running for mayor to 'stand up for drivers'". nechronicle. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  31. ^ "Mayoral Election Results".