Jamie Driscoll has been named the first-ever North of Tyne Mayor.
Voters in Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside went to the polls on Thursday to choose the first ever mayor in a landmark election.
Five candidates were initially battling for the position that will see them serve in office for five years.
After the first round of results, John McCabe, Lib Dem John Appleby and UKIP Hugh Jackson were eliminated leaving a two horse race between Conservative Charlie Hoult and Labour Jamie Driscoll.
At 3.15pm on Friday, Driscoll was named as the winner.
The vote took place on the same day as local council elections in Newcastle and North Tyneside - you can see results and reaction from election night here , and view local election results for the North East in full here.
Everything you need to know about the North of Tyne mayoral election including candidate profiles and more information about what the new mayor will actually do can be found here.
Key Events
Labour's Jamie Driscoll becomes first North of Tyne mayor
Labour’s Jamie Driscoll has been elected as the first ever North of Tyne mayor and vowed to deliver a socialist agenda.
The left-winger secured a comfortable victory, defeating Conservative candidate Charlie Hoult by 76,862 votes to 60,089.
In a win which will be hailed by Jeremy Corbyn supported as an endorsement of the party’s lurch to the left, Mr Driscoll said his election was “a verdict on a derelict politics created by a derelict Government”.
He has committed to setting up a community bank, radically expand council house building and announced he will “declare a climate emergency”.
On a bad night for the Labour party nationally , he fought off four challengers from across the political spectrum and registered a comfortable victory in a race many expected to be tight.
Mr Driscoll used his acceptance speech to dispel any notion he would veer from his left-wing agenda, telling the hall “socialist” is a “label I am proud to wear”.
Full story here.
Centre for Cities’ Chief Executive Andrew Carter said:
“The new mayor could make a big political and economic difference to the area, as it has done in London, and is beginning to do in West Midlands and Greater Manchester. To achieve this, he should focus on boosting the economy.
“The North of Tyne has been hit hard over recent decades’ by the changing economic realities brought about by globalisation and automation – limiting job opportunities. Responding to these changes, the key priority for the new mayor should be laying the foundations needed to boost overall economic growth and helping people to acquire the skills necessary to take advantage of the job opportunities this will create.
“In addition, the new mayor will need to find a way of working with neighbouring local authorities who, while not formally part of North of Tyne, have close economic links. Building effective relationships with the neighbouring authorities and the business community will not only benefit the people and businesses on the North of Tyne but also provide tangible benefits for the entire North East.”
Commenting on the news that Momentum member Jamie Driscoll has been elected North of Tyne mayor, Momentum’s Spokesperson for the North East John Taylor said:
“Devastated by Thatcherism and blighted by austerity, for decades the North East has been held back by Tory rule. By electing Momentum member Jamie Driscoll as the region’s first mayor, the people of the North East have rejected the economic orthodoxy of the past 40 years and taken back power for their communities.
“From building good, affordable homes to creating a people’s bank and highly paid, unionised green jobs, Jamie will deliver a transformative, socialist agenda for the North East and we look forward to supporting him as mayor.”
Sarah Glendinning, CBI North East Director, said:
“We look forward to working closely with Jamie Driscoll to create more jobs and investment in the region.
“Now is the time to hit the ground running and start delivering on the needs of business and the wider community across the North of Tyne.
“Business has three priorities for the incoming Mayor: improving skills, upgrading creaking infrastructure and delivering a successful Local Industrial Strategy.
“The CBI will work with the Mayor to represent the region as a whole, providing a strong voice here, in Westminster and overseas.”
Well wishes coming in
James Ramsbotham, chief executive, North East England Chamber of Commerce said:
“We offer our congratulations to Jamie Driscoll on being elected Mayor for the North of Tyne area. This role is extremely important for the economic development of our region as well as Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle.
“We look forward to working with him to ensure the business community is an influential voice on his future plans and is able to contribute fully to his work on growing the North East’s economy.”
Sean adds:
“Both Driscoll and Hoult won around 14,000 votes each on the second round.
“It ended up being a relatively comfortable win for Labour.
“The party’s vote has held up well in parts of the North East, especially Newcastle.”
'What's at stake for Labour'
Sean adds:
“It’s worth repeating what’s at stake for Labour in the North of Tyne race.
“Win and Jamie Driscoll becomes one of the country’s most high profile socialist election-winners.
“Lose and Labour are left holding a truly humiliating defeat in their own backyard.”
A message from John McCabe
The independent candidate has issued a message for people who voted for him
Counting back under way
We’ll know whether Jamie Driscoll or Charlie Hoult is the first North of Tyne mayor in about an hour
Eliminated Appleby speaks
The Lib Dem candidate John Appleby has spoken to Sean, hear what he said here
How the voting system works
Because we use a ‘first past the post’ system in this country, many of us are unfamiliar with the “supplementary voting system” being used in this election.
In layman’s terms, it means you vote for your first choice and then you have the option of voting for your second preference too.
All the first preference votes will be counted first and if a candidate gets 50%, they’re elected.
If no one passes the halfway line on the first round, the second preferences for people who voted for the eliminated candidates will then be counted and added on, and the person with the most votes after that is elected.
The system is designed to produce a fairer result than the way we usually elect MPs and councillors.
If no candidate gets a 50% mandate, the candidates effectively face another wave of votes, meaning there is a greater chance of the winner securing consent to govern from a majority of voters.
Here’s our guide to how the system works.
Driscoll got 34%
The mayoral result seems to be in line with Newcastle’s council elections yesterday
Full results are in
So Jamie Driscoll got 62,034 and Charlie Hoult got 45,494 - but no-one got 50% of the vote
Driscoll and Hoult are through
The Labour and Conservative candidates go through to the second round count