It was fantastic to meet the brilliant Conservatives candidate for Mayor of the North East, Guy Renner-Thompson, to chat about all things North East. As a Northumberland Councillor, he understands the small town and rural nature of North West Durham and it was good to talk about issues of mutual importance especially regarding rural transport, jobs and education.
The new North East Mayor covers the former North of Tyne Mayoral area (Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland) and also takes in South Shields, Gateshead, Sunderland, and Co. Durham. Who we choose will have powers very similar to Ben Houchen I think we need someone with that pro-jobs, can do attitude like Ben and I really think that Guy can bring that to us across the North East.
Guy is clearly hitting the ground running and with the former Labour Jamie Driscoll, North of Tyne Mayor, now Independent Candidate Jamie Driscoll running too, it's clearly going to be a two-horse race between Jamie (who was backed by most of the local Labour Constituency Parties) and Sir Keir Starmer's hand-picked candidate who most Labour support appears to be leaving and going to Jamie Driscoll.
Independent Jamie Driscoll and the Labour candidate both were former Newcastle City Councillors and I think that it's important that we see the region as bigger than just the centre of our main city and we need someone who understands the whole of the North East.
Obviously I would love to see Guy get in, but the important thing is that you get out there and exercise your right to vote! The mayoralty is a huge opportunity for the North East to get a powerful voice on the national political stage. I can’t wait!