The battle to become the first North East mayor has kicked into gear, with police commissioner Kim McGuinness officially joining the race.
The Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) announced on Thursday morning that she is seeking the Labour Party’s nomination for the top job, confirming a run that has been rumoured for months. She is set to go head to head with Jamie Driscoll, who is currently the North of Tyne mayor, in the fight to become Labour’s candidate.
A new regional mayor is set to be elected in May 2024 under a £4.2bn devolution deal for the North East that was recently announced. The figurehead would lead a mayoral combined authority stretching across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham.
Read More: North East's £4.2bn devolution deal moves closer as all seven councils back historic agreement
Labour’s selection race promises to be a fascinating tussle that could have significant implications for the party, with the winner likely to be the hot favourite to win the subsequent mayoral election.
Ms McGuinness has been seen as a rising star in the party under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership and has regularly accompanied him on visits to the North East. Mr Driscoll, on the other hand, is a member of the left-wing Momentum movement and has been labelled the “last Corbynista in power”.
Announcing her candidacy on Thursday, Ms McGuinness claimed that “devolution simply hasn’t meant anything to most people in our region so far”. She added: “When you hear the media or people in Westminster talk about the North, they constantly look to Manchester. We have sat back and watched as Manchester got on with the job.
"Manchester has become the de facto voice of the North, and I won’t stand for that any longer. We need a mayor who is both proud of our region and prepared to be bold in their ambition.
“I’m not here to use the job as an ideological experiment. I’m standing to ensure the Labour Party brings opportunity to all parts of the North East, turning our regional pride into a powerful force for change.”
Like Mr Driscoll, Ms McGuinness is a former city councillor in Newcastle. She became PCC in 2019, following the resignation of Vera Baird, a role she says she would stay in until May 2024 if chosen as Labour’s mayoral candidate. In her campaign announcement, Ms McGuinness promised a “relentless focus on ending child poverty”, with the North East having the highest rates in the country, as well as “urgently” bringing the region’s transport system into public control.
Mr Driscoll has long made clear that he would be seeking Labour’s mayoral nomination, potentially extending his current patch to areas south of the Tyne. He had been a councillor for less than a year and was a relative political novice when he defeated his then boss, ex-Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes, to win the Labour selection race ahead of the 2019 North of Tyne mayoral election.
The North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) covers Newcastle, North Tyneside, and Northumberland, and was formed after a split among the North East’s councils that saw the three northern areas break away after the dramatic collapse of a previous region-wide devolution deal in 2016. Mr Driscoll said: “The reason the North East devolution deal is so much stronger than other English devolution deals is the track record of the North of Tyne. We’ve created fourteen years worth of jobs in three and half years. We’ve got government to agree a child poverty prevention programme.
"Ten thousand extra people a year are getting skills training, so they earn more. I’ve spoken to dozens of companies that have invested here, creating more jobs, backed by our Good Work Pledge. And I’ve spoken to ministers to land £1 billion in the first three years of this new deal. I’m sure there’ll be lots of people want to run for the role, and it’s for the electorate to decide. I’ll be standing on my record – and people will judge me on that.”
The NTCA would be abolished should the new and long-awaited North East Mayoral Combined Authority be approved. A public consultation on the £4.2bn deal is due to begin in the coming days and would bring new funding and decision-making powers.
It includes a £48m per year investment fund to be delivered over 30 years, a £60m per year adult education and skills budget, and the power to bring local bus services back into public hands.
Other political parties are yet to announce candidates for the mayoral role. Charlie Hoult, who was the Conservatives’ North of Tyne candidate in 2019, has ruled himself out of the running.
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