Banana skin alley.Byline: By Nick Woods Political Correspondent Teesside has been the scene of some seismic shocks for the Government in recent local elections - and no-one would bet against it happening again this year. Three years ago, Labour lost control of Hartlepool in a major embarrassment for the party in former cabinet minister Peter Mandelson's constituency. Last year voters again snubbed Labour to chose two independents to become the region's first elected mayors - Ray Mallon Ray Mallon (b. 1955 in Thornaby) is the directly-elected Mayor of Middlesbrough in England. Early life Ray Mallon was raised in Thornaby, a working class town near Middlesbrough and Stockton-On-Tees in the North East of England, the only child of Joe and Pauline Mallon. in Middlesbrough and H'Angus the Monkey in Hartlepool. This time round, another potential embarrassment is looming in Redcar and Cleveland The borough of Redcar & Cleveland is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England consisting of Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Guisborough, and small towns such as Brotton, Skelton and Loftus. , where opposition parties need just two seats to deprive Labour of overall control. Labour regional director Emma Thorne admits the party faces a tough battle in what is a partly rural and partly urban district. "In Redcar the party are campaigning hard on anti-social behaviour and improving the local community. It is going to be a very close call between us and the opposition," she said. But she has higher hopes in Hartlepool, where Labour needs just one seat to regain the overall control it lost in 2000. Ms Thorne said: "Hartlepool will also be a very close call but there are possibilities of regaining some seats." Hartlepool aside, Labour still has a majority on four out of the five Teesside unitary councils: Darlington, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. But there is a question mark over Labour's stranglehold in Darlington where a boundary review means there is all to play for, including an extra seat. The Tories are targeting Darlington, where they held power as recently as 1991 and where Health Secretary Alan Milburn Alan Milburn (born 27 January 1958) is a British politician. He is Labour MP for Darlington, and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health until he resigned citing lack of balance with his family life, and rejoined it as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for is the local MP. "We are hoping to build on the success we had four years ago throughout the Tees Valley The Tees Valley is an area the North East of England. It can be described as "greater Teesside" and consists of the four unitary authorities created by the breakup of the County of Cleveland in 1996: Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton-On-Tees along with when we increased our representation on all five of the local authorities," a spokesman said. Labour's hold on Stockton and Middlesbrough seems more secure - but Council Tax could be an issue in the latter following a 13.9pc increase. The Liberal Democrats are highlighting the Government's failure to give local councils a better funding deal as the main plank of their election fight. Regional spokesperson Fiona Hall Notable people called Fiona Hall:
As for the two independent mayors, while they are not up for election this year, their record during their first 12 months in office may have some influence on the council polls. Mr Mallon recently claimed reduced crime figures in the town following a home-grown initiative. Stuart Drummond - aka H'Angus - has been working hard to improve the environment and sports facilities See:
Darlington, Stockton and Redcar and Cleveland - are pioneering total postal ballots to drive up turnout. |
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