Every part of the North East that will join a new £4.2bn devolution deal has reported public backing for the historic shakeup of the region’s politics.
Newly-released figures show that support levels for the huge agreement, which will see a new North East mayor elected next year, were highest in Newcastle and lowest in Northumberland. But each of the seven areas involved in the deal saw a majority of respondents to a recent public consultation express support.
The results of the consultation were initially published last month and showed that 61.2% of people across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Durham backed the deal, though detailed results for each individual area were not given at the time. However, there has been criticism of its “really disappointing” response rate – with just 3,235 submissions from a population of roughly two million people.
Read More: North East devolution deal 'not ideal' – but an opportunity that can't be missed
Durham had the highest number of responses with 834, which was more than double any of the other six. Below are the results of how each area responded to the consultation’s question on the principle of establishing a new North East Mayoral Combined Authority:
Durham - 834 responses
- Agree - 57%
- Disagree - 35.9%
- Neither - 7.1%
Northumberland - 297 responses
- Agree - 54.9%
- Disagree - 37.6%
- Neither - 7.5%
Sunderland - 292 responses
- Agree - 56.7%
- Disagree - 29.4%
- Neither - 13.8%
South Tyneside - 202 responses
- Agree - 61.4%
- Disagree - 29.2%
- Neither - 9.4%
North Tyneside - 282 responses
- Agree - 70.8%
- Disagree - 19.6%
- Neither - 9.6%
Newcastle - 359 responses
- Agree - 73%
- Disagree - 18%
- Neither - 9%
Gateshead - 313 responses
- Agree - 59.4%
- Disagree - 28.1%
- Neither - 12.5%
Demographic data showed that almost two-thirds of the consultation responses came from people aged 45 to 74, while 97.1% of respondents were white.
Last week, all seven councils involved agreed to send a report of the consultation’s findings to Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove, ahead of orders being laid in Parliament to establish the new combined authority.
The existing North of Tyne Combined Authority and non-mayoral North East Combined Authority will be abolished to form a new, larger body, headed by a mayor who is due to be elected in May 2024.
There has been a political storm over the mayoral race in the last week, with existing North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll having been excluded from Labour’s candidate selection contest.
Read Next:
