AS LIB DEMS PUSH FOR BREAKTHROUGH IN REGION

ED Davey has urged North East voters to reject “nasty, divisive politics” at next month's local elections.

- By DANIEL HOLLAND Local democracy reporter

The Liberal Democrat leader was in Newcastle on Tuesday and said he believes his party can make a “real breakthrough” at May’s polls, despite competing with both the Greens and Reform to end Labour’s dominance in the region.

Lib Dems ran Newcastle City Council from 2004 to 2011 and have since been the city’s main opposition party, as they have in neighbouring Gateshead.

A critical set of ‘all out’ local elections are being held in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, and South Tyneside on May 7 - meaning every single council seat in those Labour-run areas is up for grabs, rather than the usual one-third. Some polling has put Reform UK on course for victory in those four councils, but Newcastle in particular appears tough to predict.

Multiple sources have told The Chronicle that they expect no party to claim a majority in the city, where Labour currently operates a minority administration on the council.