Labour narrowly beats Reform UK to win North Tyneside Mayoral election

North Tyneside’s count was tense from early on with speculation that it was an incredibly tight two horse race between Labour and Reform UK.

Labour’s Karen Clark, previously the bookies’ clear favourite, was elected with a majority of just 444 ballots, which detractors have said is a clear message of voter dissatisfaction of the current government.

Following the official declaration, which was held up due to a computing issue creating disparities in the turnout figures, Reform UK’s candidate John Falkenstein told the Local Democracy Service: “I think we have diminished what I believed to be a 30,000 majority. I cannot see how this is a real victory for the Labour Party.”

Mr Falkenstein, a former barrister with experience in youth work, also stated that had his campaign had more resources and a longer than four-week start, the end result could well have been different.

“They [Labour] have not done themselves much justice,” Mr Falkenstein concluded.

Reform’s North Tyneside candidate also stated he predicted that come next May, Reform would take its first seats in the local authority’s chamber as the party intends to stand candidates in each ward.

As well as nipping at the heels of Labour, the major political force in North Tyneside since 2013, Reform also placed the official opposition Tories into third place.

Sitting councillor and current leader of the North Tyneside Conservatives, Coun Liam Bones said: “I want to congratulate Karen Clark on her election as the Mayor of North Tyneside. While this election result is disappointing for us it is clearly indicative of a national sense of distrust towards the main parties.

“That is something we need to address if we are to regain the trust of the British people.

“Reform is a protest party, they stood in this election with no local policies and no understanding of how local services are actually delivered on the ground. Local Conservative councillors will continue working hard for residents as an effective opposition to this Labour council.”

Following her election victory, Mayor Clark said: “A win is a win and it’s a fantastic Labour victory. This is the fourth term in office in North Tyneside which in of itself is a fantastic achievement. I am honoured and proud to be the next elected Mayor of this borough.”

The complete set of results is as follows:

Lib Dem, John Appleby: 3,453

Conservative, Liam Bones: 11,017

Labour, Karen Clark: 16,230

Community Independent, Cath Davis: 1,780

Reform UK, John Falkenstein: 15,786

Green, Chloe-Louise Reilly: 3,980

Independent, Martin Uren: 1,460