Meet Labour’s new North East mayor Kim McGuinness as Labour sees off Jamie Driscoll

Labour has won the new North East mayoral election, defeating former Labour mayor and independent candidate Jamie Driscoll.

Kim McGuinness won more than 185,000 votes, defeating Driscoll convincingly, who attracted around 126,000 votes.

The Conservatives placed third with Reform UK fourth.

A recent opinion poll for the election put McGuinness only marginally ahead of Driscoll,  a left-winger who was barred from the selection process to be Labour’s candidate for the mayoralty.

McGuinness, who grew up in a council house in Newcastle, was elected as Northumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner in a by-election in 2019, and was re-elected in 2021. She also served as a member of Newcastle City Council and previously worked in the finance and charity sector.

The result is the first mayoral victory for Labour, though it has called victory in the East Midlands, following a defeat to Conservative Ben Houchen in Tees Valley.

Driscoll claimed his “people-powered campaign…doesn’t die with just one election result”, suggesting he could continue to post a challenge for Labour in the region.

Labour’s win in the North East mayoral election comes after the party won the parliamentary by-election for Blackpool South by a huge margin, as well as gaining a number of councils from the Conservatives.

Labour has secured control in Thurrock, Redditch, Hyndburn, Rushmoor and Hartlepool, but lost control in Oldham after losing council seats to independents.

See more coverage of the 2024 local elections here.

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