There are two mayoral elections in the North East in May the Socialist Alliance is fielding candidates in both Middlesborough - Jeff Fowler and Mike Elliott in North Tyneside.
In North Tyneside the election is not coming at a good time for the ruling New Labour Party. The incompetent New Labour Council has run up debts of over £45 million which only came to light late last year. As part of their 'cost cutting' exercise the council is laying off 170 council workers with the threat of redundancy hanging over many more.
It will come as no surprise to Socialist Outlook readers that New Labour has gone cold on the idea of elected mayors and regional government. The Labour leadership in North Tyneside opposed the idea of an elected mayor." When the issue was put to a referendum the option fur a presidential style mayor narrowly won. In the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, which covers the constituencies of Stephen Byers, Alan Campbell and Nick Brown, the turnout for the referendum was higher than in the general election. After ensued in. the local ew 2, split referendum, split ensued in. the local New Labour leadership. This was not a political split on left/right lines, but a clash of two bureaucrats chasing the top At the Socialist Alliance selection meeting, Alan Pond from the tor an Independent Mayor gave an open invite to their selection meeting the following week in Whitley Bay. A small delegation of Socialist Alliance members attended this meeting of around 30 - mainly disillusioned Tories and Liberals with a few ex Labour Party supporters.
Kevin Flynn, Chair of the Tyneside explained what we stand for and invited those present to join our campaign. At the conclusion of the meeting Alan Pond (former Liberal Green Party member) was elected by those present as the candidate of the Campaign for an Independent Mayor, The consensus of the meeting was that they wanted a manager not a politician Our candidate Mike Elliott stood up and spoke against the need for an elected manager, arguing that Tyneside do not need 'good management' but a mayor that will work and fight alongside them.
Mike is a well-known local comedian and former local radio DJ. He is also a part time teacher and actor with Live Theatre and has appeared on TV in shows such as Spender, Crocodile Shoes and in the film Billy Elliott. Mike, who left the Labour Party in 1992, was a prominent part of the local fight against pit closures in the 1980s. In the 1990's he was active in the campaign to keep the Swan Hunter Shipyards in Wallsend open.
In an interview with the Newcastle Evening Chronicle Mike said I am a committed Socialist and proud of it, this is a serious desire for change not some publicity stunt. I was approached by the Alliance and asked if I would be interested, so I decided to give it a go. It's about giving people more options and choice....
"Nationally there is a back lash against New Labour When their spin goes against them they look for someone else to blame. A lot of decisions seem to have been made behind closed doors at the council. We are seeing now that means no one can be blamed when it goes wrong. I want more openness in local government."
The Mayoral Election will be contested on a entirely postal ballot. There are over 140 thousand voters registered, and each household will receive the election address's of all the candidates The Socialist Alliance campaign has attracted a good deal of interest from the press- but our focus is to Socialism. put the passion back 1ATO We are campaigning on the ground to raise the profile of the. Socialist Alliance and give the people of North Tyneside a real alternative to the faceless bureaucrats.