If Labour’s chief mission in the North East at these local elections was to steady the ship after a rough couple of years, then it would appear to be job done – for now at least.
The historic loss of Durham County Council 12 months ago and a number of headline-grabbing Conservative incursions into the Red Wall since 2019 have made it tough going for Labour in a part of England that has for so long been a stronghold. The party’s biggest fear here going into Thursday was the prospect of ceding control of Sunderland City Council for the first time in its history, having haemorrhaged nine seats there last year.
But, despite weeks of Tory predictions to the contrary, Labour stopped the rot. Only one red seat fell on Wearside this time and council leader Graeme Miller successfully retained his Washington South berth. And what had threatened to be a dangerous night for Labour in Newcastle, after a stormy few months that had seen Nick Forbes ousted, also proved fairly sedate – as in Sunderland, just one seat dropped to the Lib Dems.
