Jamie Driscoll has not ruled out taking legal action against the Labour Party, as a battle over his exclusion from the North East mayoral race continues.
The serving North of Tyne mayor has become embroiled in a bitter dispute with the Labour hierarchy, after he was blocked last Friday from a longlist of candidates to stand for election in a wider combined authority area. The left-wing figurehead has urged Sir Keir Starmer to let him back into the race, while the party leader has also come under pressure from fellow Northern mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram.
Mr Driscoll, whose barring has been blamed on his decision to appear on stage with filmmaker Ken Loach in March, has no internal appeal process by which he can challenge the decision of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC). While he has not discounted the possibility of legal action, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that the cost and time involved could make that option doubtful.
