06/05/2025
Statement from Cllr Colin Ferguson, Leader of the Opposition
As the dust settles on local elections in which Labour have been humbled in their North East heartlands, it is understandable if voters across Tyne and Wear begin to wonder what this means for the 2026 all up elections due in Newcastle, Gateshead, and Sunderland.
It is very clear that there has been a wholesale rejection of Labour’s apparent dominance of the region, with the party reduced to just a handful of councillors in both Northumberland and County Durham. Voters are clearly deeply unhappy with the record of an incoming Government that promised change, but has delivered only austerity and cutbacks on promised investment in local authorities and transport. The final insult for many has been the callous and cruel cuts to Winter Fuel Allowance for older people and to PIP payments for people with disabilities.
Voters in Newcastle, Gateshead, and Sunderland have legitimate concerns about Labour council administrations that have badly lost their way and have lost the confidence of the public. Their promises that a Labour Government would hose local services with cash has come to nothing, and they are left with no clue where to go next. Labour in our Region are tired, rudderless, and bereft of ideas.
But voters would do well to be cautious about whether the turquoise tsunami that has swept areas like Blyth, Ashington, and Durham coalfield communities can be relied on to fix the problems facing North East communities: crumbling roads and pavements, faltering social care, and unreliable services. The next twelve months will be a crucial test for the credibility of the rag-tag Reform administration in Durham. They are yet to demonstrate they can deliver the promises they have been elected on.
By contrast, in Durham, effective Lib Dem councillors, who work hard for their residents, were re-elected with strong majorities, whilst both Labour and Conservative councillors elsewhere in the region were swept away. Local voters will remember that a Lib Dem administration ran Newcastle competently and successfully within recent memory, and should be in no doubt that we stand ready to replace a tired and tattered Labour leadership that is heading inexorably for the exit. No other party can claim likewise.
Newcastle deserves better. We are ready to offer an alternative council administration in Newcastle that is fairer, more responsive, more effective, and more credible to city stakeholders and taxpayers than the charlatans of Reform, and I have no doubt that my colleagues in Gateshead and Sunderland stand ready to do likewise.
