Of the North-East's 30 MPs, 28 belong to the Labour Party and many current and former Cabinet ministers - including Tony Blair, David Miliband, Alan Milburn, Stephen Byers and Hilary Armstrong - represent seats in the North East.
In a few former mining areas political opposition has disappeared to the extent that Labour councillors are elected unopposed.
Much of the employment in the region is also in the public sector - or dependent on public subsidies - leading, according to Greg Stone, to "quite a lot of leakage between local authorities and the private sector".
"There is certainly a political oligarchy in the North-East.
"I wouldn't say it is necessarily the same as it was 25 years ago, when it was very much a product of Labour Party domination of the town halls and Parliamentary seats, and the domination of the trade unions.
"There are still remnants of that, but their power is not as great as it used to be. But there is certainly a Labour extended family."
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Greg Stone: Our friend in the North
The BBC has an extended, thoughtful piece on the politcal background of David Abrahams and the nature of poltics in the North East. It quotes our own Greg Stone extensively:
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2 comments:
It's certainly a world away from Westminster. I wonder how long it will be before the Labour heartlands start to question their leadership?
Thanks for this!
Btw, the "leakage" comment was taken slightly out of context. Not entirely sure the local Labour party will be impressed with the international comparison!
Incidentally the Lab MP Kevan Jones quoted in the piece (an ex sparring partner) rejecting the claims is often found in the local media challenging the murky doings of his own local (Labour run) Derwentside council
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