Eyes on the North in election battle
May 1 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
THE big three political parties will be watching the North East tonight with the council elections acting as a weather vane of success or failure nationally.
Voters in the region will today decide the make-up of two new councils and the political direction of the five Tyne and Wear authorities.
While the Durham race will largely be one to see which opposition party can finish second to Labour, in Northumberland council bosses are preparing for the real possibility that the new authority will have no overall control. And although no-one is expecting Gordon Brown to be celebrating tonight, if his party manages to avoid too many losses he could claim that as a sign of confidence in Labour.
Despite the PM’s political misfortunes the Conservatives are not guaranteed big gains, especially in the North East.
David Cameron came to Gateshead earlier this year and said he was determined to win more council seats in the region and to adopt more Northern-friendly policies.
If he can’t at least increase his share of the vote that Tory promise will look like a non-starter.
Many Tory councillors have admitted that one extra hurdle facing them is the lack of a war effect.
The seats up for election now were last challenged in 2004 – when Tony Blair saw many councils lost as voters punished the party for entering into an unpopular war in Iraq the year before.
That controversy has now settled down, although many opposition parties will be hoping the 10p tax shake-up will prompt similar frustration at the ballot box. For the Liberal Democrats the vote should be a chance for new leader Nick Clegg to show what he can do for the party at the ballot box.
Newcastle Council leader John Shipley said the elections could be very good for the Lib Dems.
“There are a lot of unknowns in the two unitary elections which will make it very interesting,” he said.
“In Northumberland I think many councillors are expecting it to be no overall control, and we are confident that we stand a good chance of securing the largest majority.
“In Newcastle we think many residents are so fed up of Labour they will not turn out, and we hope to make several gains and increase our majority.”
A senior Labour source told The Journal that the party would do reasonably well but warned it was “inevitable” that there would be a backlash against a Government that had been in power so long, with local elections being a political barometer for Westminster.
North Tyneside Conservative Michael McIntyre said the party nationally might not be able to repeat the impressive gains of 2004, but stood a good chance of winning the council from no overall control.
“The last few weeks have even surprised us a bit, with the sudden rise in the number of people telling us on the doorstep that they will not be voting Labour.
“It does seem to have snowballed, and I don’t know how that will play out across the region, but here in North Tyneside we are seeing a large level of opposition to Labour.”
Conservatives in North Tyneside are hoping to gain at least three seats needed for them to win control and be able to team up with Liberal Democrat councillors in a bid to block the elected Labour mayor’s budget.
Votes will tonight be counted in Durham, South Tyneside and Sunderland, with the other councils counting on Friday morning.
Big Conservative increases in North Tyneside and Sunderland are expected, although few experts predict Tory wins in Newcastle.
