Berwick councillor joins race for North Northumberland seat at General Election

Georgina Hill, the Independent Northumberland county councillor for Berwick East, has announced she is standing in the forthcoming General Election for the North Northumberland seat.

She will be up against incumbent Anne Marie Trevelyan for the Conservatives and Labour candidate David Smith, a charity boss, Natalie Younes of the Liberal Democrats, Jan Rosen of the Green Party, Katherine Hales of Reform UK and Andrew Martin of the Social Democratic Party.

Cllr Hill was first elected to the county council in 2017 after spending nine years as a town councillor. She previously ran as a Conservative in 2013, but left the party in 2016.

She said: “I have been inundated by kind messages from residents encouraging me to stand – after careful consideration I have decided to go for it.

“The independent movement is gaining momentum – the mood here, and elsewhere, is of serious disillusionment with the main parties and yearning for something different. The main parties have utterly failed to address, or even acknowledge, the major challenges which the country faces.

“If I had to sum up my political philosophy in one word – it would be “justice” – a hatred of injustice – for fairness, protecting individuals and their freedoms. Nobody who believes in justice could, possibly accept the current housing situation and the gross inequalities it perpetuates – which is why I recently called for a housing crisis to be declared.

“I was born in North Northumberland (Berwick – the most northerly part), I live in North Northumberland, I am active now in North Northumberland and have earned a reputation for working hard for my residents campaigning on important issues across a number of areas and getting things done – never afraid to speak truth to power.”

The latest polls put the Conservatives and Labour neck and neck in North Northumberland, which consists of the former Berwick constituency as well as the town of Morpeth following the redrawing of constituency lines by the Boundary Commission.

Cllr Hill continued: “The election here is wide open – despite the usual, disingenuous claims. Voters can choose a strong, independent voice for North Northumberland or have more of the same”.

Coun Hill was first elected on to Northumberland County Council in May 2017. At the last election in May 2021, she won her seat again with over 75% of the vote.

The qualified barrister stood in the by-election for Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner in July 2019 after the resignation of Vera Baird. She almost pulled off a huge shock – getting into the second round run off.

In the end, she received 60,000 votes and came within 6,000 votes of the eventual winner, Labour’s Kim McGuinness – the recently elected North East Mayor.

Cllr Hill described herself as a “high profile, sometimes controversial and outspoken” figure in local politics in Northumberland.

She has been a vocal critic of the Northumberland County Council administration, as well as the Council’s “arms-length” regeneration companies Arch and Advance since 2013.