North East Euros
The North East European region covers Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and the former Metropolitan county of Cleveland. It returns 3 members of the European Parliament.
In 2004 the region returned 1 Labour MEP, 1 Conservative MEP and 1 Lib Dem MEP. The low number of MEPs makes this one of the least competitive regions. Labour lost out on a second seat relatively narrowly, but the only real question here is whether Labour could retake a second seat – there is no realistic possibility of the Conservatives or Lib Dems increasing their support enough to win a second MEP.
Sitting MEPs and 2004 Results
| 1. |  |
Stephen Hughes (Labour) | 266,057 (34.1%) | |
| 2. |  |
Martin Callanan (Conservative) | 144,969 (18.6%) | |
| 3. |  |
Fiona Hall (Liberal Democrat) | 138,791 (17.8%) | |
| -. | UKIP | 94,887 (12.2%) | ||
| -. | BNP | 50,249 (6.4%) | ||
| -. | Neil Herron (Independent) | 39,658 (5.1%) | ||
| -. | Green | 37,247 (4.8%) | ||
| -. | Respect | 8,633 (1.1%) |
2009 Candidates
| 1. | Stephen Hughes. Sitting MEP. Born 1952, Sunderland. Educated at Leeds University. Former local government officer. First elected as MEP for Durham and Blaydon in 1984. |
| 2. |  Fay Tinnion. Born Saffron Walden. Educated at Cambridge University. A teacher, who has also working for the Co-operative Party. Contested Richmond (Yorks) 2001 |
| 3. |  Nick Wallis. Family court advisor. Darlington councillor since 1991. |
| 1. | Martin Callanan. Sitting MEP. Born 1961, Newcastle. Former Gateshead councillor. Contested Washington 1987, Gateshead East 1992, Tynemouth 1997. MEP for the North East since 1999. |
| 2. |  Barbara Musgrave. Educated at Tormead School. Sculptor. Guildford councillor 1979-1991. Surrey County councillor 1981-1993. Contested Blyth Valley 1997. |
| 3. | Emma Moore |
| 1. | Fiona Hall.Sitting MEP. Born 1955, Manchester. Educated at Oxford University. Former Parliamentary researcher. First elected as MEP for the North East in 2004. |
| 2. |  Chris Foote Wood. Born 1940, Prestbury. Educated at Bury Grammar School. Author and ghost writer. Former leader of Wear Valley council. Contested Newcastle North F1974, Middlesborough O1974, Durham 1979, Bishop Auckland 2001, 2005. Contested Durham and Blaydon 1989 and 1994 European elections, North East 1999 and 2004 European elections. |
| 3. |  Neil Bradbury. Tynedale councillor and Northumberland county councillor. |
| 1. |  Gordon Parkin. Contested Stockton North 2005. Will contest Stockton North at next general election. |
| 2. | Sandra Allison. Contested Stockton South 2005. Will contested Sedgefield at next general election. |
| 3. |  John Tennant. Researcher for the IND/DEM group in the European Parliament. |
| 1. |  Shirley Ford. Will contest South Shields at the next general election. |
| 2. | Iris Ryder. |
| 3. | Nic Best. |
| 1. |  Adam Walker. Former teacher, resigned after being suspended for allegedly using a school laptop to make postings to far-right websites. |
| 2. |  Peter Mailer. Born 1956, Birmingham. Publican. Twice arrested and in 2008 and 2009 for ‘suspicion of committing a racially-aggravated public order offence’ after a complaint against him for displaying newspaper cuttings in his pub. |
| 3. |  Ken Booth. Defected from the National Front in 2005. Was criticised in 2007 for comparing the presnt day memorial at Auschwitz to Disneyland. |
| 1. | Don Botham Television producer. |
| 2. | Daniel Parker |
| 3. | Coral Thompson Contested Motherwell and Wishaw 2005. |
| 1. |  Martin Levy President of Newcastle TUC. Contested Newcastle East as Communist 1997, 2001, 2005. |
| 2. |  Hannah Walter Unison shop steward |
| 3. |  Peter Pinkney RMT activist. |
| 1. | Ken Rollings |
| 2. | Alasdair Macleod |
| 3. | William Tremlett |
| 1. | Francis Roseman |
| 2. | Allan White |
| 3. | Graham Robinson |
| 1. | Michael York |
| 2. | John Taylor Contested Redcar 2001, 2005. |
| 3. | James Anthony Dodsworth |
| 1. |  Ahmed Khan Born Yorkshire. Formerly ran a uniform manufacturing company. Independent South Tyneside councillor since 2008. |
| 2. | Jacqueline Riley Carer. |
NB - Candidates lists are provisional, based on candidates declared before the campaign. They will be updated to reflect the final list of candidates as soon as possible following the close of nominations.
Final Prediction:
Labour – 1
Conservative – 1
Libdems – 1
Dull and boring, except that UKIP might run the Libdems closer than you think for that final seat.
Quote from ConservativeHome:
“The LibDems are REPORTEDLY neck and neck with UKIP in the North East and may lose their seat in the region.”
However, I’m told the Lib Dems have topped the poll across Newcastle.
And are ahead of Labour across Northumberland again.
As widely predicted, one seat each for Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems; Labour fall significantly but still 5% ahead of Conservatives, who are up only 1%. UKIP up 3% but still behind Lib Dems.
No change in seats here but UKIP coming close to taking the LD seat
Turnout seems down significantly – the number of votes received is down for every party, including UKIP, with the sole exception of the BNP, and they picked up fewer than 500 votes.
All postal voting, plus local elections in Tyne & Wear in 2004
Now that the Government has abolished English regional government, shouldn’t this seat be redistributed?
The unequal size of Euroconstituencies is glaringly obviously unfair in that in this consitutency the minor parties have no chance, whereas in, for instance, the South East (and the North-East and Yorkshire and Humbershide combined would be no bigger than the South East) party getting under 10% of the vote gets representation. I am not considering whether it is right for minor parties to get MEPs; but the bar in terms of percentage of the vote should be roughly comparable across the country.
Many years ago, I think when he was first elected leader, David Cameron made mention of wanting the Euro constituencies to go back to single-member types (obviously elected by PR as instructed by the EU).
I assume, if he still desires this, that any change will have to happen after the 10% reduction. I have never been much of a fan of the Euro regions model, so any return to how things used to be (with AV or STV instead of FPTP) would be fine by me.
Even if one in general prefers STV, I think there is a good case for the argument that one-member FPTP (or AV if you must). Euroseats are quite big enough. Particularly if one doesn’t get over-concerned about equally sized seats so that the seats represent geographically identifiable areas (but of course inequalities in size anything like as great as those of the current Euroconstituencies are unacceptable).
Of course the problem is that multiple member seats are forced on us by the European powers that be. They would not let Cameron go back to single member seats, and I presume he knows it.
Incidentally, I have posted about the outrageous discrepancies in UK Euroconstituencies, but there is the further issue that Europe is allowed to get away with a Parliament which greatly over-represents smaller countries. The European Parliament really ought to bicameral on the US system (and that of the German Parliament), with a lower house in which every MEP represents as nearly as possible an equal number of electors and an upper house in which each country has the same number of representatives – but of course the UK should be treated as at least four countries, and possibly more for places like Cornwall and even Kent and Yorkshire, in the Upper House.
And in the North East, historically Durham of course would have claims to be separately represented as a County Palatinate.