Jamie Driscoll

Mayor Jamie Driscoll
Mayor of the North of Tyne
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2019
Preceded by	Norma Redfearn (as interim mayor)
Newcastle City Councillor for Monument
In office 3 May 2018 – 6 May 2019
Personal details
Born	1970 Middlesbrough, County Borough of Teesside, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour Co-op
Alma mater	Northumbria University

Jamie Driscoll is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and former engineer who is the directly elected mayor of the North of Tyne Combined Authority. He previously served as a Councillor representing the Monument ward on Newcastle City Council. Ideologically, Driscoll is positioned on the left-wing of the Labour Party.^[1][2]

Early life[]

Driscoll was born in Middlesbrough, North East England in 1970.^[3][2] His father was a tank driver in the British army before becoming a shift worker at Imperial Chemical Industries, while his mother trained to be a youth worker. Driscoll left school at sixteen and trained as an engineer making breathing apparatus. Driscoll later attended Northumbria University, studying engineering.^[4]

Early career[]

After university, Driscoll worked as a project engineer and later became the manager and company director for a software development firm.^[2]

Political career[]

Driscoll was elected to Newcastle City Council in 2018 to represent Monument ward. He is co-chair of the Newcastle branch of the campaigning organisation Momentum.^[2][5] Driscoll is a member of the Transport and General Workers' Union.

Mayor of North of Tyne[]

Driscoll stood for selection to be Labour's candidate in the 2019 North of Tyne mayoral election, defeating Newcastle council leader Nick Forbes in February 2019.^[6] He ran as the more radical candidate, supported by left-wing figures, including then Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP, political theorist Noam Chomsky, commentator and journalist Paul Mason, Norwich MP Clive Lewis, and Durham MP Laura Pidcock.^[7] His campaign was endorsed and supported by unions including Unite the Union, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, the Fire Brigades Union, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association and ASLEF.^[8][9]

Driscoll ran on a platform with five primary pledges:^[10]

1. Community Wealth Building
2. Green Industrial Revolution
3. Setting up Community Hubs
4. Build Affordable Homes
5. Meaningful Adult Education

Driscoll won the 2019 North of Tyne mayoral election with 56.1% of the vote.^[11] Upon taking office, he became entitled to the style of Mayor.^[12] As well as being elected as the first North of Tyne mayor, Driscoll was also the first metro mayor backed by Momentum.^[13]

Environment[]

Driscoll declared a climate emergency on the day he was elected.^[14] In August 2019, he complained that not much progress had been made on his policies in the first 100 days as the combined authority still needed to find its feet.^[15] Since then, the authority under his leadership has invested heavily in the local economy, creating at least 2000 jobs.^[16]

Transport[]

Driscoll actively campaigns for increased investment in transport in the north, and particularly the north east, from central government. He argues that transport in the north east has been underfunded for decades. Driscoll is in favour of reopening train lines closed under the Beeching cuts and creating an integrated transport system, similar to London, in the north east.

Economy[]

Driscoll has funded a non-coercive Working Homes programme to empower social housing residents with new work skills,^[17] launched a Climate Change teachers programme partnering with the United Nations^[18] and increased local government investment in broadband infrastructure for Northumberland’s most rural areas.^[19]

In 2021, Driscoll met with regional leaders from Bavaria, Germany to discuss how to enhance trade and cooperation between North of Tyne and Bavaria, citing similarities in trends of socio-economic demographics and in approaches to decarbonisation as the basis for the meeting.

Children and education[]

Under Driscoll’s leadership, the North of Tyne Combined Authority has invested in the Kielder Observatory to create programmes aimed to inspire more children into STEM subjects, and funded a youth outreach project in collaboration with Newcastle United F.C. to try and children off the streets, reducing the likelihood of becoming involved in gang crime and anti-social behaviour.^[20]

Devolution[]

Driscoll has stated his desire for all seven North East local authorities to come together to reform the original North East Combined Authority, made up of Northumberland County Council, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Council, Gateshead Council, South Tyneside Council, Sunderland City Council and Durham County Council.^[21] However, Conservative-controlled Northumberland County Council has resisted the idea due to concerns about their lack of influence, with five of the seven councils being Labour-controlled, and one being NOC. In response, Driscoll promised to not sign any new devolution deal that did not include Northumberland.

Personal life[]

Driscoll is married and has two children. His wife is an NHS doctor.^[22] He has four siblings; an older brother who served in the Royal Navy, a sister who is a healthcare assistant in the NHS, and a younger brother - Jon Driscoll, a football commentator.

References[]