Jamie Driscoll has been named as the first ever mayor for the North of Tyne, and declared a climate emergency in his first day in charge of the newly formed combined authority.

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.”

 

Public Sector Executive