The Labour mayor for Newcastle and North Tyneside has accused the party of failing to capitalise on the success of its mayors across the country, saying the leadership is too focused on Westminster politics.
Jamie Driscoll, the mayor for the North of Tyne – an area that includes Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland – told the Guardian he thought Labour were not doing enough to highlight the achievements of people like him, Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham.
His comments highlight a broader concern among some in the party that Starmer’s insistence on an extremely controlled strategy, where media messaging is dictated from the centre, could cost Labour votes at the next election.
Driscoll said: “I wish they would shout about [what mayors are doing] more. Because this election is, like all elections, won and fought on economic competence. And you’ve got mayors across England delivering this in power. Labour in power are doing it.”
Asked why he thought the party was not talking more about the policies of their regional mayors, he blamed “tight messaging” from the central party.
“If you’re thinking about the next election, you’re spending your time asking: ‘What are we going to offer?’ ‘How are we going to land that? ‘When shall we say it?’” he added.
“But then you’ve got mayors, quite rightly, just going off and delivering in their own area. It doesn’t fit any kind of electoral timetable that they’re just doing the job.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “We’re incredibly proud of our metro mayors, that there’s so many of them, and the massive things they’re achieving for their communities.
“Keir’s Labour government will push power out to communities, to make sure decision-making is done as close as possible to those it affects, and to give control back to communities. Our metro mayors are integral to that fundamentally different way of governing.”
Khan in London and Burnham in Greater Manchester are more famous and more popular than most of the party’s MPs, according to polling by YouGov. But there have been policy splits in the past between both men and the Westminster party.
While Starmer has refused to criticise Brexit, for example, conscious of the need to win back votes in Brexit-supporting areas, Khan recently said: “After two years of denial and avoidance, we must now confront the hard truth: Brexit isn’t working.”
Burnham, meanwhile, has disagreed with Labour policy on a range of issues, including the ban on Labour politicians joining picket lines. He also raised the hackles of many in the leader’s office when he refused to rule out running again for the party’s leadership in the future.
Driscoll has found himself at odds with the party leadership at times. He recently appeared on stage with the left-wing film director Ken Loach, who has been expelled from the party over comments he made about antisemitism. His appearance was branded “hugely upsetting” by the Jewish Labour Movement.
