Jamie Driscoll launches independent campaign for North East mayor with attack on Keir Starmer

A directly elected mayor who was blocked by the Labour Party from standing at the next mayoral election has resigned from the party and said he will run as an independent candidate in 2024.

Jamie Driscoll, current mayor of North of Tyne, shared an open letter to Sir Keir Starmer yesterday (17 July), in which he took aim at the Labour leader for U-turning on “so many promises” and said he is “not interested in hope and change”.

Last month, Driscoll revealed that he had been barred from standing as the party’s candidate for the newly-created North East mayoralty next year, despite being the incumbent in the new position’s predecessor role, as mayor of North of Tyne.

The decision sparked a rift within the party, with allies of the leadership highlighting Driscoll’s recent appearance at an event alongside filmmaker Ken Loach, who was expelled from the party in 2021 after he claimed Starmer had conducted a “witch hunt” of Jeremy Corbyn supporters as Labour looked to crack down on antisemitism.

Starmer accused of ‘broken promises’

In his open letter to the Labour leader, Driscoll said he had “no other choice” but to stand as an independent because Starmer barred him from running as a Labour candidate.

He wrote: “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.”

Driscoll said he is “not encouraging anyone to leave the Labour Party,” but went on to criticise the party’s direction under Starmer’s leadership.

“You’ve U-turned on so many promises: £28 billion 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. And people stop saying ‘I make no apologies for…’ before you find yourself saying ‘I make no apologies for making no apologies’.

“Britain is a mess. Wages have fallen behind inflation. People are struggling to pay mortgages. Knife crime is out of control. Business investment has flat lined. The climate response is barely existent. People with chest pains wait an hour for ambulances. Our transport system is in chaos,” he wrote.

“It is not grown up politics to say Britain is broken, and then claim things are now so difficult we will abandon any plan to fix it. That is mental gymnastics worthy of Olympic gold.”

“Worst of all, you’ve said you’re not interested in hope and change. Well, I am - Britain needs hope and change. Instead of London Labour HQ barring me from running, you could have used my work as a showcase of economic competence.”

Driscoll launched a fundraiser yesterday for his campaign to stand as an independent candidate. He shared a link to the GoFundMe page, saying: “I won’t have big party machinery behind me, or a national press office. I’ll need £150k to run a full campaign. If I can raise £25k by the end of August, I’ll run.”

Within two hours, the page had attracted more than the £25,000 target Driscoll had set for the end of August. At time of writing, he has received over 3,900 donations totalling almost £79,000.

Why was Jamie Driscoll barred from standing as a Labour candidate?

Driscoll announced last month that he had been barred from standing for Labour, with former shadow chancellor John McDonnell blaming “out of control” factionalism for the exclusion, arguing that “there can be no other motive” as Driscoll is “widely credited with doing a great job”. He added: “This is staggering news.”

But Labour has said the decision is linked to its promise to stamp out anti-semitism. A party source told PA that Driscoll’s appearance at the event with Mr Loach and subsequent “refusal to apologise” is “clearly incompatible with our promise to have zero tolerance of antisemitism”.

Meanwhile, another source told Sky News: “I don’t see how he [Driscoll] can have expected to be a candidate after appearing with Ken Loach. It would have made a mockery of all Keir Starmer’s commitments on anti-semitism.”

In March 2023, Driscoll spoke with Loach at Newcastle’s Live Theatre.

Loach was expelled from the party in 2021 after he claimed there had been a “purge” and “witch hunt” of Corbyn supporters under Starmer. The film director, known for films such as I, Daniel Blake, also claimed that there had been “exaggerated or false charges” of anti-semitism under the Islington North MP’s leadership.

Labour has selected Kim McGuiness, the current Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, as its candidate for North East mayor, with the election due to take place next May.

Speaking after her selection was confirmed, McGuinness said her "number one priority" would be to end child poverty.

"I’m standing to be North East Mayor, because I have a vision for our region. Together we can reclaim our ambition and make the North East the real home of opportunity."

The new mayoralty covering Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham will be set up following a devolution deal worth £1.4 billion, which will give the new mayor powers over transport, housing and skills.