Let him eat cake

 

The Gateshead flyover closed to traffic a year ago today. The closure was an emergency measure because the 1960s structure was found to be unsound and bits were dropping off the edge. Labour Leader of Gateshead Council, Martin Gannon, told the BBC in March that the concrete eyesore would be demolished by the end of the year. Alas, with only 19 days left, it's looking like Martin's prediction is going to be somewhat off target.

To mark the anniversary of the closure and non-demolition, Gateshead Lib Dems had a cake made in the image of the flyover. Lib Dem Leader of the opposition Ron Beadle cut the cake in front of local journalists (who were the first to taste it.) Behind him, still standing, was the actual flyover.

The cake has now been taken to the Tynesider on Gateshead High Street. Lib Dems will be there tonight to help demolish and eat it. Martin Gannon is invited. We'll let him eat cake.

Safely predicted

 

I was in the Lib Dem office today to do a bit of printing. We have a Gateshead Lib Dem media event coming up tomorrow in Gateshead so the printing was for a handout flyer. We will be marking a year since the Gateshead Flyover was closed. Gateshead Labour leader Martin Gannon said in March that "I can safely predict [the Flyover] will be gone by the end of this year." (BBC 18th March 2025) It is, of course, still there as a grandiose landmark paying tribute to 1960s concrete architecture. With only 20 days of the year left, Martin's prediction may just miss the target.

Meanwhile, I am avoiding the temptation to safely predict that Martin will be gone at the local elections in May next year. 

Meeting Robo Dog

 

Yesterday at Gateshead Civic Centre there was a briefing for councillors on equipment that can be used to help older people wth dementia continue to live at home rather than go into a care facility. While most of the equipment had a passing resemblance to remote controls, ipads and mobile phones, my attention was drawn to this little critter which I dubbed Robo Dog. It is designed for people now suffering from dementia but previously had a pet dog. Robo Cat is also available. Apparently Robbo Cat can purr but not claw the furniture. No feeding needed and no need to clean up puddles and poo. 

I haven't kept dogs for over 40 years but I currently have two cats (called Bug and Eve) which do claw the furniture and need a constant supply of cat meat and water. I wonder if they can learn from Robo Cat on how to behave. Alas, I don't believe there are any sheep or goat versions!

Beating the flu bug

 

Last night we had the Gateshead West Lib Dem dinner at the Soho Tavern in Kibblesworth. Throughout the day I received a steady stream of messages from people apologising for not being able to make it to the dinner. The culprit was the flu bug that is circulating at the moment. Nevertheless, some of us made it to the restaurant. An excellent meal.

Blast from the past

 

While sorting some papers in my office at home recently, we came across this blast from the past. It was my election leaflet from April 1992 when I stood in Hexham, then the neighbouring constituency to where I lived in Gateshead. The haircut with a  left parting did not survive the election for long. The parting shifted to the middle. A few years later, the whole style changed again to what I have now - short with no parting. Sadly, the colour changed from brunette to grey, or as we prefer to say, silver! The good news is I still have the tie! The bad news is that I am slightly more enlarged around the waist so the suit had to go! It is a bit of a shock to the system to think this election was a third of a century ago. There are members of the Lib Dem group, and others aspiring to join us as Lib Dem councillors on Gateshead Council, who weren't even born when I went down to defeat in Hexham.

Beamish comes to Sunniside

 

The next meeting of Sunniside History Society will be on 7th January 2026. A speaker from the museum will give a talk about the recently added attractions, particularly in the 1950s town. As usual, all residents are welcome.

Birtley north action day

 

Another Saturday and another Gateshead Lib Dem action day. Today we were in Birtley North and Lamesley to deliver the latest Focus. Deliveries will continue over the next few days.

RIP Andy

 

It was a sad day today for Gateshead Liberal Democrats. Our former chair and treasurer, Andy Coleman, passed away suddenly in November, aged only 48. His funeral was today. Andy had been a key activist over the past few years. He did not want to be a councillor but the focus of his activities was within the party itself. Rather than be a candidate, he did the job of election agent. He was an organiser, a person who took on important roles thereby freeing up the councillors to campaign.

I remember at my wedding over two years ago, he took on the task of organising various events including ensuring the prosecco was poured and everyone had a glass.

Andy is pictured above, 4th from the left in the photo above taken at North East Lib Dem regional conference last year. At 6ft 2 inches he stood out in a crowd.

By-election analysis: gain, loss, holds

Yesterday's council by-elections were a mixed crop. Lib Dems had a gain, a loss and 2 holds. The overall picture is unchanged from last week - Labour and the Conservatives are doing appallingly badly, the momentum is still behind Reform, the Greens barely registered (but they inadvertently helped Reform win in one contest) and the Lib Dems, as previously, had a mixed night. So here are the details.

Exmouth Halsdon in East Devon

• A Lib Dem hold though with a 4% drop in vote share. Nevertheless, the Lib Dems saw off a Reform challenge.
• Reform stood for the first time and jumped into 2nd place.
• The Conservatives came in 3rd. In most by-elections where they stood recently, their share of the vote has typically halved. This was not the case in this by-election. The Conservatives dropped from 30% to 26%. Given what has happened to them in other recent contests, East Devon must have brought them a small dose of cheer.
• The Greens did not stand last time but in this by-election, they decided to field a candidate who took 10%. Their appearance may have been the caused, at least in part, of the small drop in the Lib Dem share.
• Note the absence of a Labour candidate. Are Labour generally struggling to find candidates?

Winkleigh in Torridge

• A Lib Dem gain from the Conservatives with a modest 10% majority and an 8% increase in the share of the vote.
• Reform were 2nd having not previously stood. They took 33% of the vote, towards the upper end of what they typically get in council by-elections (25-35%). Their failure to win is likely to be the result of the Lib Dems soaking up Labour, Green and possibly some Conservative voters.
• The Conservatives came 3rd and last, having started in 1st place. Their vote share halved, something that is now a regular occurrence in council by-elections.

Tudor in Watford

• An area where the Lib Dems are very active, and the result shows it.
• A Lib Dem hold with an increased share of the vote and over half the votes cast. This was despite there being 4 other candidates.
• Reform had previously stood and had taken 10%. This time they added 18%. At 28% they were at the lower end of typical Reform expectations.
• The Conservatives came 3rd but as is now typical, they lost half their vote share.
• 4th placed Labour did not lose half their vote, as they have typically done in other by-elections. Instead, they lost two-thirds.
• The Greens came fifth, having not stood last time. The non-existent "Green surge" didn't help here. They came last with 5%.
• A key point about this by-election is that it demonstrates where the Lib Dems are strong on the ground and active, challenges from other parties can be beaten back.

Long Eaton North in Derbyshire

• A Reform hold, by the skin of their teeth. Their majority was 23, over the Conservatives.
• The Conservatives very nearly pulled a rabbit out of the hat. In pre-Reform times, this would have been an easy win for the Conservatives. It's interesting to note that Labour were on 22%, the Greens on 12% and Lib Dems on 6%. There was a significant Lab/Green/Lib Dem vote but it was clearly reluctant to vote Conservative tactically to beat Reform. In effect the Conservatives handed Reform the seat.
• The final candidate was an independent on 5%. It could be that this helped split the anti-Reform vote even further, and with such a tight majority, the Independent may actually have decided the outcome.

Stapleford in Broxtowe

• The appearance of 3 additional parties makes changes in shares of the vote more challenging to interpret.
• Labour were defending but managed to record a result so bad, it makes many of their other results look reasonable. They had previously been in contention by, yet again, they lost half their share of the vote and came 4th.
• The contest was won by the Browtowe Alliance which had not previously contested the ward.
• Reform were 2nd with 22%, well below their usual range.
• The Lib Dems were 3rd on 13%, a drop of 8%. Clearly there was a failure by the Lib Dems to project themselves as the clear challenger.
• The Conservatives lost half their vote share and came 5th.
• There was another independent who came last. This muddied the water further.

Nunthorpe in Middlesbrough

• A very disappointing result for the Lib Dems as they had a successful defense rate of over 90%. Reform took the seat by the skin of their teeth - 13 votes.
• The Conservatives had previously been in contention but dropped to 3rd place. Their share dropped by a third, an improvement on their typical performances recently.
• Labour were never in contention and what little vote they had was squeezed further. They came 5th and last.
• The Greens stood for the first time and got 5%. Given how close the Reform majority was, it is likely that the Green intervention gave the seat to Reform. Vote Green, get Reform.

So, overall we can see that Labour are starting to fail to contest seats, the Greens are not surging, Reform is continuing to pick up seats, the Conservatives are still losing considerable vote share (as are Labour), beware of Independents pulling off unexpected tricks and the Lib Dems are generally doing well but can suffer an occasional shot across their bows.

Statistics

I've just been looking at the statistics for my blog. In November, there were 46,742 viewings. Overall, there have been 1,780,942 viewings of the blog and posts since I first set up the blog in February 2006. By next year I hope to have exceeded 2 million though possibly not by the blog's 20th birthday in February. Finally, I have produced 3802 posts so hopefully I should go over 4000 in 2026. There will be plenty to write about as we have all-out elections in Gateshead. Since there is a likelihood of a political earthquake in Gateshead next year, I will be kept busy writing new material.

A minute's silence for Colin

Sunniside History Society met last night for the first time since our former chair, Colin Douglas (pictured above), passed away. We held a minutes silence in his memory before starting the meeting proper.

As this was the December meeting, we had our Christmas quiz and a buffet. As is now our normal practice, I wrote the history quiz. There were four rounds: soap operas, British Prime Ministers, local buildings that are no longer with us, and historical individuals with a link to the North East. The quiz went down well.