When Jamie Driscoll found out in January 2023 that he wouldn’t be considered as the Labour candidate for the North East mayor contest, the news came as somewhat of a shock.
As the mayor of the North of Tyne, it was thanks to Driscoll that a combined authority encompassing Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead and County Durham that stretches some 110 miles and encompasses two million people was created.
That he wasn’t going to appear on the ballot box under the banner of a party that he had been affiliated with for decades seemed, quite frankly, insulting.
The decision to block Driscoll from running prompted outcry across the Labour movement, with the unions criticising the decision and Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram describing the Labour Party as undemocratic, opaque and unfair.
Aditya Chakrabortty wrote in The Guardian that Driscoll was a “victim of McCarthyism” after the announcement, saying he had been set upon by Sir Keir Starmer’s “bullies”.
But the decision to take the fight to Labour as an independent wasn’t inspired by political bigwigs or influential journalists, but by his son, who urged him not to abandon the fight.
“He said, ‘you’re going to be fighting for all this – social justice, climate change, better wages for people – just do it from a position of power’, so that was the decision to run”.
In July, Driscoll confirmed he would be running as an independent candidate for north-east mayor having raised £30,000 in just over two hours – more than the target he had set for fundraising by the end of August.
He confirmed his candidacy by tweeting a link to an Elton John song – I’m Still Standing, and nothing else.
Speaking to The London Economic ahead of this week’s election, he said the main difference between his policy platform and Labours is that “mine has numbers and facts in it”. In contrast, others “have vague aspirations”.
Driscoll has pledged to bring all the public transport back under control if he is elected with a fully integrated network across The Metro, buses and rail.
He will make travel free for those under 19s and everyone in full-time education and create thousands of jobs by supporting venture capitalist funds run alongside the universities.
Current polling has him neck-and-neck with Labour based on how engaged his supporter base is.
Only time will tell whether he is able to pull of a miracle.
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