Local elections 2024: What went wrong for the Labour Party in South Tyneside?

“Local issues matter” - that seemed to be the message that voters in South Tyneside sent to the Labour Party after it lost ten seats in the borough.

While the Labour Party still remains the dominant force on South Tyneside Council, its position has been severely weakened after Independent candidates and the Green Party made gains in the 2024 local elections.

At around 1.20am on Friday morning (May 3), results had only been confirmed in five wards yet independent candidates had taken two gains from Labour.

From that point, you got the sense that it was going to be a long night for the South Tyneside Labour Party and that proved to be true.

So despite performing well in other parts of the North East and the rest of the country, where did it go wrong for Labour in South Tyneside?

The ‘perfect storm’

Speaking straight after the full results were announced at Temple Park Leisure Centre, Cllr Tracey Dixon, leader of South Tyneside Council described the run up to the election as the “perfect storm”.

In that “perfect storm”, Cllr Dixon was referring to the ongoing industrial dispute within the Council’s waste department - which has plagued bin collections in the borough from around September 2023.

However, it isn’t just six months of industrial action that has had a huge impact on the South Tyneside Labour Group, the problems have been there for much longer than that.

In March, the long running saga of “bullying” allegations against the former councillor leader, Iain Malcolm, were upheld after a complaint was lodged in July 2020.

In May 2023, South Tyneside Council’s children’s services were rated as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, with concerns raised over a decline in the quality of services.

It is issues like this that members of the public remember and it is something that political rivals acknowledged as they made moves to offer an alternative to the Labour Party.

Essentially, voters are now telling the South Tyneside Labour Party: “If you don’t sort the problems, then we will look for someone who will”.

Big losses

The loss of ten seats is hurtful enough but when you dive into the people who have lost their positions on South Tyneside Council then it gets even worse.

Joanne Bell, the Lead Member of Governance, Finance and Corporate Services, was a councillor for nearly 30 years but she narrowly missed out on being re-elected in the Boldon Colliery ward.

Ed Malcolm, a long standing councillor who was formally censored last year, was among those to lose out to an independent candidate - although it is perhaps his own actions that led to an election defeat rather than that of the Labour Party.

Then the deputy leader of South Tyneside Council, Audrey Huntley, was another big casualty in the 2024 local elections as she was ousted from the Fellgate and Hedworth ward.

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A member of the public commented to me in the aftermath of the Fellgate and Hedworth result that they believed that things such as the “Save the Fellgate Greenbelt” campaign played a role in the downfall of Cllr Huntley.

It got me thinking about other campaigns that have been run in recent years, such as efforts to save Chuter Ede from demolition or efforts to stop the felling of trees on the current South Tyneside College site.

Independent and Green Party candidates have thrown themselves behind these campaigns and whilst Labour candidates have raised concerns, there just feels like there is an air of complacency from the Labour Group over issues that really matter to people in South Tyneside.

So what next for Labour?

Right now the South Tyneside Labour Group is an injured seal and the sharks are beginning to circle as they smell blood in the water.

Independent councillor Glenn Thompson has already set his sights on removing Labour as the dominant force in South Tyneside by 2026.

The Green Party will also be fancying their chances at further denting Labour’s majority as they continue on the upward trajectory of popularity in the borough.

South Tyneside Council has been under a Labour majority since 1979 and in 2018, the Party held 53 of the 54 seats.

Fast forward six years to 2024, the make up of the Council is the Labour Party with 28 seats, the Green Party with 11 seats and 15 independent candidates.

That rate of decline will see Labour out of power in the next few years and the Party in the borough simply cannot afford to have another election night like it did this year.

Cllr Dixon has stated that Labour needs to “work more closely” with the communities in the borough and this is absolutely true.

Labour needs to rebuild its relationship with the South Tyneside electorate and restore trust in members of the public that it can deliver the best services for them.

The ball is in Labour’s court with all eyes and ears on them as they will undoubtedly look to put right the wrongs of the 2024 local elections.