The Labour candidate defeated his closest rival, Conservative’s Charlie Hoult, with over 76,000 votes, becoming the first person to hold the office following a “once-in-a-generation” £600m devolution deal.
In his first day in office, Driscoll has already pledged to build a new bank, grow small business, and create affordable housing across the North of Tyne.
But he stated his priority was tackling climate change during his five-year mayoral term, and that he would put in place a “green new deal” for the region.
“We are facing a climate emergency and we’re going to be getting people in place here to work with councils, businesses and citizens to move us towards being carbon neutral by 2030.
“That’s a monumental piece of work and it’s going to need people at the combined authority looking at this full time.
“We are facing a climate emergency and we’re going to be getting people in place here to work with councils, businesses and citizens to move us towards being carbon neutral by 2030.
“That’s a monumental piece of work and it’s going to need people at the combined authority looking at this full time.”
