The North East has traditionally reserved its support for the Labour Party, and to a large extent this is a tradition that has continued not only at a local level, but also in parliament. But recent events suggest that in local government terms the area may be opening up for other parties, and one in particular: the Liberal Democrats.

The 2000 Local Government Act allowed for elected mayors. But while it was considered the Labour government’s flagship policy, it was not greeted with the enthusiasm that ministers might have expected. For starters, referendums were marred by low turnout. Other areas – including the prime minister’s own backyard of Sedgefield – turned down the proposal outright. But where the idea for an elected mayor was accepted, Labour candidates fared badly. In fact, it was independent candidates that seemed to succeed as “personality politics” took over from traditional party lines. Stuart Drummond, better known as local football mascot H’Angus the Monkey, was elected mayor of Hartlepool, while “Robocop” Ray Mallon won the ballot in Middlesbrough. In North Tyneside, the area represented in Westminster by former Cabinet minister Stephen Byers, Conservative candidate Linda Arkley was chosen: there, the party also controls the council. 

Revenue funding in the North East amounted to just short of £1500 per person in 2002/03 – compared to around £1300 in neighbouring Yorkshire and the Humber and just £1200 in areas such as the East Midlands (see table for council tax levels).

Of the 25 councils, Labour controls 16 and is in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats on one. But this looks set to change. Although Liberal Democrats only have control of two councils in the region, one of these is Newcastle City Council, an authority that had been held by Labour for 30 years. Another is Durham City Council, another Labour stronghold. In the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, independent candidates took all three Labour seats to form a coalition with Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The Labour leader of Sedgefield Council also lost his seat.

But opposition parties hoping to gain from this apparent swing in Labour’s fortunes in the North East may need to wait a little longer. On May 5, only two councils in the region will face election.  Despite Liberal Democrat success in the city of Durham, Labour councillors still dominate Durham County Council; the same is also true of Northumberland County Council, where there are 38 Labour councillors, compared to 17 Conservatives, nine Liberal Democrats and three independents. But two of the three elected mayors in the region both face the public vote in May, and it is here where all three of the major parties will be looking to recover lost ground.

There is every possibility that Linda Arkley could be re-elected mayor of North Tyneside.  In the June 2003 by-election prompted by the resignation of fellow Tory Chris Morgan, she won on a turnout of less than a third, but with a majority of more than 4,800, representing a net 4.5 per cent swing from Labour to the Conservatives.  But it is not a foregone conclusion, with Labour coming in a strong second place, and Liberal Democrats faring well in the North East as a whole.  If she were defeated, there would be no Conservative directly elected mayors in the country. 

But there is much more interest in the race about to begin in Hartlepool, where Stuart Drummond is facing re-election.  He famously became mayor after campaigning as local football mascot H’Angus the Monkey, with the slogan “free bananas for schoolchildren”. Although he won with more than 60 per cent of the vote, he has since hung up his costume with an aim to be taken more seriously. The Hartlepool by-election suggests that Labour should do well, and the party still has overall control of the council. But Liberal Democrats managed to slash Labour’s parliamentary majority in the city, while UKIP managed to push the Tories into fourth place – all three could pose a serious challenge in May’s mayoral poll.