Jamie Driscoll has claimed the people of the North East “will not be happy” if the Labour Party refuses to let him back into the race to become the region’s mayor.
A bitter dispute over the sitting North of Tyne mayor’s absence from Labour’s longlist of candidates to stand for election in a bigger combined authority area next year continued on Tuesday, after days of feuding. Sir Keir Starmer has come under pressure to reinstate the left-wing mayor to the selection contest, after he was barred because of an appearance on stage with filmmaker Ken Loach – who had previously been expelled from Labour amid efforts to root out antisemitism.
Party sources have said it was “impossible” to allow Mr Driscoll to seek the North East mayoral nomination because of his association with the I, Daniel Blake director, with the Jewish Labour Movement having called the event at Newcastle’s Live Theatre “hugely upsetting”, and his subsequent failure to apologise. But figures on the left have accused the leadership of “out of control” factionalism.
