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Anger and apathy defined what could be a bruising day for Labour in its traditional north-east stronghold.
With Conservative ratings at rock-bottom across the rest of the country, Labour may have had reason to be hopeful of a stroll to victory in the region’s inaugural mayoral contest.
But as polls opened on Thursday morning, the party found itself on shaky ground, with independent challenger Jamie Driscoll hailing a “people-powered political earthquake”, which has reportedly left him neck-and-neck with the official candidate of his former party.
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Driscoll, the incumbent North of Tyne Mayor – the rump authority formed when four of the north-east’s seven local authorities rejected a previous devolution deal – was barred from Labour’s selection process to head the revamped body, which will now take in the entire region from the Tees to the Tweed, after he shared a platform with filmmaker Ken Loach.
Labour opted to endorse Kim McGuinness, a former Newcastle city councillor and current Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).
But in Driscoll’s Newcastle base at least, there were plenty of voters who said they planned to shun the party in the mayoral contest over the handling of the row.
Liz O’Donnell, in the city’s leafy Gosforth, said Driscoll had been “shamefully treated by the Labour Party”.
She added: “I haven’t voted for the Labour candidate for that reason. I think he has been an excellent North of Tyne Mayor, Kim McGuinness has been a bit of a shadow figure and I feel we need someone who will stand up for the region.”
