Brown blasted over election backlash

May 3 2008 by Graeme Whitfield, The Journal

GORDON Brown was yesterday told to start listening or “get out of the kitchen” by a North East MP after Labour’s worst electoral results for decades.

Labour’s Blyth Valley MP Ronnie Campbell blasted the Prime Minister for sparking a backlash by “imposing” the new unitary county on Northumberland and scrapping the 10p tax band.

“Gordon Brown wants to start listening to the people and his MPs or should get out of the kitchen if it’s too hot,” Mr Campbell said after Liberal Democrats became the largest party in the county after years of Labour domination.

Another backbencher suggested a leadership “change” in the long-term while a colleague expressed frustration at Mr Brown’s policy and presentational shortcomings after Labour lost hundreds of seats in local elections.

The warnings came as David Cameron claimed a northern Tory revival after winning North Tyneside Council and advancing in Sunderland and County Durham – although no seats were taken in Newcastle and Gateshead.

Hundreds of new Conservative councillors were elected overall as a BBC analysis showed the Tories won 44% of the vote compared to 24% for Labour and 25% for the Lib Dems. If replicated in a general election, Mr Cameron would have a massive 138-seat Commons majority.

Lib Dem Berwick MP Alan Beith said: “I am absolutely delighted by the massive gains. We are in strong position to have a clear influence.”

Peter Atkinson, Tory MP for Hexham, said the results were “good news” with his party making progress.

Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman said she was pleased Labour had won the new County Durham unitary authority by what she described as a “comfortable margin”.

“The Cameron effect has still not come north of the Tees,” she said.

Labour stunned as the voters desert them

LABOUR’S election nightmare grew worse yesterday as gleeful opponents claimed the party had said goodbye to its North East heartland.

A backlash against Gordon Brown has left Labour with fewer than half the council seats available in the region, a position previously unthinkable to the party faithful.

In Northumberland, where Labour had been in power since 1989, the party had to accept defeat after winning only 17 wards, with the Liberal Democrats becoming the largest single party on the new unitary council and Labour on the same number of seats as the Tories.

In North Tyneside the council now has its largest number of Conservative councillors since 1974, with the party claiming 44% of the vote.

But there was some bad news for the Conservatives, who failed to take any seats in Gateshead and Newcastle, despite promises by Tory leader David Cameron to start winning there.

Some of the biggest upsets include Blyth Valley leader Dave Stephens failing in his quest for a county council seat, while current county council deputy leader Tony Reid was defeated at Prudhoe East by former party stalwart Bill Garrett standing as an Independent.

Senior Liberal Democrat John Shipley hailed the results as the beginning of a “major shift in political allegiance” in the North East.

The Newcastle Council leader said: “Right across the region we are delighted. These are simply massive victories and inroads. Even in places such as Durham, where Labour have had historic majorities, we have done far above expectations. In Newcastle we increased our hold and showed people are happy with a Liberal Democrat council.

“There is absolutely no doubt that the North East is no longer the strong Labour heartland it once was.

“Many people told us during the campaign that they felt Labour had taken them for granted for too long, and as a consequence many of them have voted against a party they have supported for years. And many more will do that in the coming General Elections.”

Mr Shipley’s sentiments were repeated by many councillors last night, and some Labour politicians also said the party’s reputation in the region was damaged.

North Tyneside MP Stephen Byers said the Conservatives suggested his party’s activists had lost out because of the way voters had reacted to the Labour leadership. He said: “The sad thing is that in places like North Tyneside and Sunderland and the rest of the North East we lost good local councillors because of issues that have nothing to do with them and instead to do with the national scene.”

Shadow Tyneside minister Alan Duncan said that despite the Newcastle results, the Conservatives were happy with their performance in the region.

“I’m delighted about North Tyneside, where we have in effect taken our first metropolitan council since they were set up in 1974. I know there is still work to do in Gateshead and Newcastle, but we will continue building and progressing.”

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