Jamie Driscoll quits Labour after snub in north-east mayor race

A leftwing regional mayor who has been blocked from being Labour’s representative to contest the north-east mayoralty has announced that he is resigning from the party to try to run as an independent candidate.

The party has become embroiled in a factionalism row since Jamie Driscoll, the serving mayor of the North of Tyne, was excluded from the race in a move linked to an onstage appearance with Ken Loach, the film director and expelled Labour member.

Driscoll said in a statement on Monday that “people are tired of being controlled by Westminster and party HQs” as he hit out at Keir Starmer over broken pledges.

On Monday, Labour members selected Kim McGuinness, the current Northumbria police and crime commissioner, from a shortlist of three to be their candidate for north-east mayor.

Within two hours of making his announcement, a crowdfunder set up in May by Driscoll had reached its target of £25,000 and was later almost a third of the way towards a new goal of £150,000

In a scathing resignation letter to Starmer, which Driscoll published on Twitter, he wrote: “Given you have barred me from running as north-east mayor despite being incumbent mayor, I have no other choice.

“In 2020 you told me to my face that you would ‘inspire people to come together … disciplining people to be united is going nowhere’. You’ve broken that promise,” said Driscoll, often described as “the last Corbynista in power” since becoming the first mayor for North of Tyne in 2019.

“You’ve U-turned on so many promises: £28bn to tackle the climate emergency, free school meals, ending university tuition fees, reversing NHS privatisation; in fact, a list of broken promises too long to repeat in this letter.”

Speaking to the Guardian, Driscoll likened his move to Ken Livingstone’s successful 2000 run for London mayor as an independent, when Labour’s official candidate was beaten into third place.

Driscoll dismissed any suggestion that his move could split the vote to the advantage of the Tories, adding that he believed he would appeal to voters from across the spectrum, who would be attracted by his “support for working people and strong views on progressive patriotism”.

Asked where he would find workers to support his campaign, Driscoll said: “The Labour party has expelled thousands of people already and many have left, but there are also many people out there from community groups who are not in parties. There really is a huge groundswell of support out there, which has surprised me.”

Driscoll’s case has drawn backing from other Labour mayors, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, who accused the party of being undemocratic, opaque and unfair. Their intervention came after the trade union Unite said Labour’s national executive committee had made a “major error” in blocking Driscoll’s candidacy, which it said was motivated by his support for the renationalisation of utilities.

Labour figures have suggested that Driscoll’s candidacy was blocked because he took part in an event with Loach, who was expelled from the party in 2021. Driscoll interviewed Loach at the Live Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne in March, where the two discussed the films Loach has made in the north-east, including I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You.

A Labour spokesperson said on Monday that the party was delighted that local party members had selectedMcGuinness as the candidate for the mayoral election next year.

They said: “With Keir Starmer as leader, the Labour party is a changed party, relentlessly focused on delivering for working people, and we make no apologies that Labour candidates are held to the highest standard. The Tories have let our region down, and as Labour mayor Kim will be the strong voice the north-east deserves.”

A spokesperson for Momentum, the grassroots group that emerged from Jeremy Corbyn’s 2015 leadership campaign, described the situation in the north-east as “a mess entirely of Keir Starmer’s making”. “Keir Starmer’s anti-democratic purge has just cost Labour a popular and effective mayor,” they added.