Mayor Driscoll quits Labour and set to run against party candidate McGuinness

The Labour mayor of the North of Tyne has announced he is leaving Labour, and is likely to run against the party’s newly selected candidate for the wider north-east mayoral role he was controversially barred from.

The party’s decision to block Driscoll, a prominent figure on the left of the party, sparked a significant backlash from across the party and wider labour movement. It was linked to his decision to share a platform with the filmmaker Ken Loach, who has been expelled from the party.

Driscoll said he will also stand for the north-east mayoralty if he can raise £25,000 from supporters, and then duly surpassed the figure within hours. He appeared to confirm he will stand by sharing a link to Elton John’s song ‘I’m Still Standing’.

He said he made the decision to quit Labour with “a heavy heart” in a public letter to leader Keir Starmer, stating “I am not encouraging anyone to leave the Labour Party”.

Driscoll said Starmer had, however, “U-turned on so many promises: £28bn to tackle the climate emergency, free school meals, ending university tuition fees, reversing NHS privatisation” when Britain needs “hope and change”.

His comment came only minutes after Chronicle Live reported the party had confirmed Northumbria police and crime commissioner Kim McGuinness as its candidate for the north-east mayoralty. Driscoll had helped negotiate a government deal for the creation of the bigger regional authority.

I’ve decided to resign from @UKLabour and serve as an Independent Mayor.

People are tired of being controlled by Westminster and Party HQs. They want someone to stand up for them. Let the people decide. £25k by end of Aug & I’ll stand as North East Mayor👉https://t.co/WuDEGd3xxJ pic.twitter.com/kscPeMmlX5

— Mayor Jamie Driscoll (@MayorJD) July 17, 2023

Driscoll tweeted: “The only ‘whip’ should be the people. The North East needs an experienced, independent voice. Even if you don’t live here, this affects you. Our politics is a mess. Millions feel no one speaks for them. Politicians should answer to you, not to party bosses in London HQs.”

Asked for comment, a Labour spokesperson said:  “The Labour Party is delighted that local party members have selected Kim McGuinness as our candidate for the North East Mayoral election next year.

“With Keir Starmer as leader, the Labour Party is a changed party, relentlessly focussed on delivering for working people, and we make no apologies that Labour candidates are held to the highest standard.

“The Tories have let our region down, and as Labour mayor, Kim will be the strong voice the North East deserves.”

Metro-mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram wrote to the NEC about the decision to bar Driscoll, saying they felt he should be permitted to appeal, praising his record in office and asserting that he “deserves to be treated with more respect than he has so far been shown”.

A letter signed by trade union figures including the general secretaries of the RMT, ASLEF, CWU, FBU and BFAWU, as well as the leaders of UCU and POA in a personal capacity, called the decision to keep Driscoll off the longlist a “massive own goal”.

Asked about Driscoll’s failure to make the longlist, Labour party spokesperson said at the time: “The North East Mayoralty is a unique opportunity for the people of the North East to take more control over the way our region is governed, with powers over housing, education, skills, transport and so much more.

“The Labour Party holds its candidates to a very high standard. During this process, some applicants did not meet the threshold required to proceed to the longlist stage. We do not comment on individual applications.

“Local members now have a fantastic longlist of candidates from which they will choose the Labour Party’s candidate to be the very first North East Mayor.”