The race to become the first North East mayor has taken a stunning twist – with one of the leading candidates excluded from Labour’s selection contest.
Left-wing Jamie Driscoll, the party’s sitting mayor of the North of Tyne Combined Authority, has been left off a longlist of hopefuls vying to become Labour’s candidate for the mayoral election next May. Mr Driscoll has long been one of the favourites for the new job and launched his campaign last month to take on the larger mayoral patch being created by a £4bn devolution deal covering Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Durham.
The decision to exclude a man described as the ‘last Corbynista in power’ leaves his main rival, Northumbria Police and Commissioner (PCC) Kim McGuinness, in a commanding position. Ms McGuinness, who is closely aligned to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, is on the longlist alongside ex-MEP Paul Brannen and Newcastle city councillor Nicu Ion.
