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National
Daniel Holland

Second seat up for grabs in Newcastle election battleground after North Jesmond Labour councillor resigns

A second seat in one of Newcastle most hotly-contested election battlegrounds will be up for grabs in May.

Voters in the swing ward of North Jesmond will elect two councillors at May’s local elections, after one of the area’s representatives stood down. Labour councillor Stella Postlethwaite has resigned her post with immediate effect, having held the seat for almost seven years.

In a resignation letter last week, she said it was an “incredible privilege and a role I will never forget” to have served as a councillor since 2016. She is stepping down to “concentrate on building a career as a solicitor”, as she is soon to complete a law qualification.

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Her exit means that a second prized seat will be on offer on polling day on May 4 in what is one of the few wards in Newcastle represented by a split of councillors from different parties. Ms Postlethwaite was re-elected last year with a slim majority of just 40 over the Liberal Democrats. Labour’s Tanya Prestwell and Lib Dem Gerry Keating, whose term is due to end in May, are the ward’s other two councillors.

A former member of Newcastle City Council’s cabinet under the leadership of Nick Forbes, Ms Postlethwaite was among the group shuffled out of the authority’s top table after Nick Kemp emerged victorious from a Labour power struggle to take charge at the civic centre last year.

There will be one seat up for election in each of the other 25 wards in Newcastle on local election day. This will be the first year when voters are required to bring a form of photo ID with them to polling stations when going to cast their ballot.

Following Ms Postlethwaite’s resignation, the current political make up of the council is: Labour 50, Lib Dems 21, three Newcastle Independents, two independent and two vacancies.

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