Welcome to edition 117 of eFocus. Tomorrow, Thursday, is polling day in the local elections to Gateshead Council so we have included material about our candidates and information about voting. After the election on Thursday, we will send you our next edition which is full of news about the area.
Please feel free to forward to others who may find the contents of interest or post to social media.
In this edition:
Your local Lib Dem candidates
Confusion over polling cards explained
Lib Dems' Six to Fix
It's not too late to use your postal vote
Your Lib Dem candidates
It is polling day on Thursday 2nd May for the local elections. Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm. Counts will take place on Friday morning.
The Liberal Democrats are defending Whickham North and Swalwell (Cllr Chris Ord above right) and Whickham South and Sunniside (Cllr Jonathan Wallace below left).
Vicky Anderson (above left) is Lib Dem candidate for Dunston Hill and Whickham East where Labour's candidate is defending a majority of just 23 votes.
Nick Seaborn (below right) is Lib Dem candidate for Lobley Hill and Bensham. Previously a strong Labour ward, Nick is hoping to spring a surprise result on polling day.
Confusion over polling cards
In April residents received polling cards for the local elections. This week, people have received another set of polling cards and understandably there is a bit of confusion as to why two different sets of polling cards have been distributed. Gateshead Civic Centre has received many calls about this, as have your local Lib Dem councillors.
The explanation is that we are currently having two sets of elections. The first is tomorrow, Thursday 2nd May when elections are held for your local councillors. The campaign for this has been underway for some weeks. Polling cards for an election are typically sent to voters a few weeks before polling day.
The second election, on Thursday 23rd May, is for the European Parliament. The UK had been scheduled to leave the EU on 29th March but the failure of the government to get its Brexit deal through Parliament means the departure date has been rescheduled to 31st October. The UK therefore needs to take part in the European elections.
Typically, when two sets of elections are due, they are combined. It was too late however to push the local elections back to 23rd May.
If you vote by post, your European ballot paper will arrive shortly. If you vote at a polling station instead, you are not required to take your polling card with you. Polling stations are open 7am to 10pm in both elections.
Lib Dems' "Six to Fix"
Liberal Democrats have launched their manifesto for the local elections being held on Thursday 2nd May. It covers six areas: cleaning up the borough, stopping Labour waste, homes for all, an enquiry into secondary schools, making Gateshead greener and giving Gateshead a voice. The short video above (26 seconds) gives a brief outline.
Lib Dems' Six to Fix in Gateshead
If you have a postal vote you can still use it!
Many residents have chosen to have a postal vote rather than going to the polling station. If you are one of these people and haven't yet returned your local election vote, it is not too late to use it.
If it is too late for the final post on Wednesday 1st May, you can take your completed ballot paper and accompanying paperwork to any polling station in Gateshead on Thursday 2nd May. Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm.
Promoted and published by John McClurey on behalf of Chris Ord, Vicky Anderson and Jonathan Wallace (Liberal Democrats) all at 5 Burdon Park, Sunniside, NE16 5HA and Daniel Duggan on behalf of Nicholas Seaborn (Liberal Democrats) all at 37 Larne Crescent, Gateshead NE9 5RP. Hosted by Google, Inc., located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, United States.
