Shields Gazette comment: Our view on South Shields MP's Boundary Commission disagreement with husband

As colourful and entertaining as married life can be, it doesn’t usually make headline news.

The exception is when the wife is the MP for South Shields and her husband goes public opposing her views.

MP Emma Lewell-Buck is fighting on behalf of the people of South Shields against Boundary Commission plans to move the Simonside and Rekendyke wards into the Jarrow constituency.

We have reported the story from day one and revealed how Mrs Lewell-Buck wants people to back her opposition to the plans.

That her husband is opposed to his wife has made headline news, not because it is unusual for married couples to disagree, but because he has gone public with his opposition.

Reaction to Boundary Commission disagreement

Mr Buck felt so strongly about supporting the plans his wife doesn’t like, he went online to make his case. What makes this even more unusual and, as such, newsworthy, is that Mr Buck is employed by his wife as her parliamentary assistant - a position paid for by the public purse! Both have condemned the Gazette for publishing the story.

What a pity they weren’t so outspoken when we tried to contact them prior to publication. Then, our request for a comment was met with silence.

Mrs Lewell-Buck has brushed the story off as being as trivial as a debate over who likes ‘milky coffee’. Mr Buck has described the story as ‘journalism with crayons’. They have the right to their own opinions.

As far as we are concerned, the couple’s private disagreements are their own business, but when they are made public and over such important political issues we think the public has a right to know.

We know what our readers want to be told.

Emma Lewell-Buck: A timeline of her career in politics