So, the election is over at last and the long campaign in the North East to elect its first elected mayor is finally completed. Kim McGuinness has been elected, after a stiff challenge from previous North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll and she can now look forward to four years when she will have power and funding to change the region.
On the national stage, the North East has been neglected for so long and needs a strong figurehead to both defend and promote the region. We have been on the backfoot for 100 years now. Yet it wasn’t always like that. At one time we had the highest industrial wages in the world and technologically and socially we were one of the most progressive places on earth. Given a fair deal and with the right leadership we can rise again.
Of course, the powers given to the new North East Mayor are limited and control of finances is still ultimately with Westminster, but it is still an opportunity for us to start to stand up for ourselves and develop our own power base, which can help us to move towards a just transition to a carbon-free economy and in so doing rebuild our skills base and our industrial capacity.
There is much that needs to be done.
Housing
We need to kickstart our regeneration and at the same time improve our housing stock. Andy Burnham, the mayor for Greater Manchester has already promised 10 000 more council houses in his city region and the new North East mayor needs to show a similar level of ambition. With both fuel prices and poverty levels in the region still high, this could mean appropriate insulation for all homes, while in the long run moves could be made towards developing community energy, with the North East mayor acting as an enabler to help get a lot of energy cooperatives off the ground.
The new mayor could also help people in the region to take back green spaces to grow healthy food and encourage greater biodiversity.
Public transport
Similarly, a lot could be done to improve public transport in the region. It would be good to see a proper, publicly owned and integrated public transport system. The soon to be re-opened Northumberland line between Newcastle and Ashington should be joined by a reopened Leamside Line. Public transport should be made safer and more accessible for those who need it. The new North East mayor should also work with the devolved administration in Edinburgh and with the other northern mayors to improve our links with Scotland the rest of the north of England.
Skills and education
In a third area, skills and education the new mayor can do a lot to improve the skills base of the region and better prepare it for a just transition to a carbon-neutral economy. We can also see a move towards a more useful and relevant education for our region’s young people, one that will inspire them, build their confidence, and raise their aspirations.
Opportunities and challenges for the new mayor
In some respects, it may be useful that we have a Labour mayor in the North East, as we anticipate the election of a Labour government in Westminster later this year. That said. if Kim McGuinness is to have a real impact there may be times when she has to challenge a Starmer-led government. And it is clear that Sadiq Khan in London and perhaps more relevantly to us, Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham in the North West have demonstrated that an elected mayor’s popularity can increase by sometimes standing up for what they believe to be right, rather than just going along with the party line.
The North East and the wider north have been neglected for so long, certainly since 1979, if not before. Kim McGuinness has the opportunity to give us a voice in the national conversation and has at least some funding and powers to improve lives here in our region.
I wish our new NE Mayor all the best and hope that she is able to improve lives in our region in tangible ways, while being an effective voice for our long-suffering region.
