Former North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll has been selected by Newcastle Green Party to contest the city centre seat of Monument ward in May’s all-out council elections. Driscoll was previously a Labour councillor in the ward before he was elected as North of Tyne Mayor in 2019.
As a result of boundary changes, every council seat in the city is up for election this May. Labour has already lost overall control of Newcastle City Council with a string of resignations, and the defection of Ouseburn ward councillor Alistair Chisholm to the Greens. Chisholm was also reselected to contest the Ouseburn ward again in May for the Green Party, along with South Jesmond Green councillor Sarah Peters, whose current South Jesmond seat disappears in the ward boundary changes. Peters won the seat from Labour in last summer’s by-election. The Labour vote share fell from 43% to just 17%, with the bulk of voters switching to the Green Party.
Jamie Driscoll joined the Green Party in December last year, saying on social media that the Greens were serious about winning power.
Jamie Driscoll said:
“Newcastle needs a new broom, and the Greens are building a strong team of people with real-world experience – doctors, engineers, small business owners, mental health professionals. 100 days from now we’ll have elected a new council, and if people put their trust in us, I can guarantee we’ll fight for our city. We’ve got to regenerate our high streets, clean up our city, and most importantly, listen to the residents.”
Nick Hartley, sitting Green Party councillor for Byker, said, “Newcastle Greens are going from strength to strength, and Jamie brings real heavyweight experience into the Green team with a proven track record of getting things done. Last year’s by-election showed that people are switching from Labour to voting Green. We’re ready for the May elections, and it’s about time we had a council that listened to the residents and put them first.”
Driscoll will be joined on the ballot by fellow Greens Kiran Sayyed, 39, who is a digital production specialist, and Gareth Jones, 28, who is a director of United Nations-focused education programmes at a global foundation.
