The North East’s most popular councillor wants his “forgotten” residents to become a focus for Newcastle’s new political leadership, after an astonishing election victory.
Marc Donnelly has become a ballot box juggernaut in the outer west of the city and romped to another term in office last Thursday, with a whopping 85.7% of the vote in his Chapel ward. The often controversial independent first took a seat on Newcastle City Council in 2004, initially in the now defunct Westerhope ward, and has increased his majority every time he has stood since.
His latest ringing endorsement from the electorate saw a huge 3,434 people vote for him – more than 1,300 higher than anyone else polled across the city and the biggest tally of any candidate across the region last week. The 41-year-old puts his success down to having his loyalties “solely with the residents of Chapel ward” rather than a political party and “because I do what every councillor should do, respond to residents and represent their views and concerns at the civic centre”.
