The comprehensive guide to Gateshead local elections 2026

Eligible voters now have their say on every single seat throughout Gateshead in this year’s all-out election on May 7. 

Gateshead Council is one of a number of local authorities predicted to be claimed by Reform UK. If this comes to pass, it will be the first time since 1973 that Labour has not governed the local authority. 

How many councillors are up for election?

Like several neighbouring councils, Gateshead will see an all-out election this time around, meaning all 66 seats are up for contention. 

What is the current make-up of the council?

Gateshead Council is currently composed of 46 Labour councillors, 18 Liberal Democrats, and two independents. 

Who is the leader of the council?

Deckham councillor Martin Gannon has been the leader of Gateshead Council since 2016 after taking over from Mick Henry. Coun Gannon was first elected to the local authority in 1984 and had served as deputy leader for six years before he was promoted. 

When are the polls open and when will the results be announced?

Polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm on May 7. Alongside neighbouring authorities this year, the count will not begin until 10am the following day.  It is estimated results will come through by 4pm. 

Which are the most interesting seats to watch?

Given the all-out nature of this year’s election in Gateshead, every seat is being fought over – so it is all to play for. Previous reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found that AI-supported polling predicted a strong Reform UK majority in Gateshead.

However, certain wards have already made headlines, including Saltwell. Reporting from Jewish News in April revealed a Reform UK candidate for Saltwell David Robert Prior’s historical membership to the British National Party. 

Reform UK expelled Mr Prior from the party and withdrew its support for his candidacy dubbing past or present membership to the BNP as “incompatible”.  There is the potential for Bridges ward to see Gateshead Council’s first-ever Green councillor or councillors. 

What issues are getting people talking?

Regeneration is the hot-topic on Gateshead residents’ lips with the current Labour administration having been accused of not acting quick enough. The demolition of the A167 flyover is now ongoing and once it is fully removed it is hoped major rejuvenation of the area can be achieved. 

However, the flyover has been a long headache for Gateshead Council. The road was closed in December 2024 over safety concerns and at the height of the issue split the Metro in two. 

The long-awaited revamp of the Quayside has also seen multiple delays over the years. In March, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness signed off £24m to boost the stalled development of a world-class arena on Gateshead’s Quayside, but plans for a proposed neighbouring conference centre had to be shelved. 

Gateshead Council bosses also sent plans for a major housing project around the Metrocentre off to the government for an independent review last month. While Labour defended the plans as a “serious priority” rival parties raised their questions about the scheme, ranging from sustainability to calls for in-depth feasibility studies. 

Who is standing for election?

Birtley North and Lamesley:

• Abbie Jayne Batey – Liberal Democrat
• Andrew Philip Bex – Liberal Democrat
• Robin Christopher Costello – Labour Party
• John Nigel Dawson- Conservative Party
• Andrea Jane Graham- Reform UK
• David Robert Lowes- Labour Party
• Steven John Mullins- Reform UK
• Joe Painter – Green Party
• Jason Price- Green Party
• Michael Robert  Robinson – Reform UK
• Judith Turner – Labour Party
• Cameron Mathew Wallace-  Liberal Democrat

Birtley South:

• Stephen Brownless – Green Party
• Paul Thomas Elliott – Liberal Democrat
• John Gardiner- Conservative Party
• Michael Alan Hall – Labour Party
• Michelle Mabel Hepburn – Independent
• Kenneth Charles Jamieson – Labour Party
• William Alfred Pay – Reform UK
• Sandra Myra Pickering – Reform UK
• Joe William Kenneth Sowerby – Liberal Democrat
• Lauran Sowerby- Liberal Democrat
• Shaun Tumelty – Labour Party
• Martin Turnbull – Reform UK

Blaydon:

• Malcolm Alfred Brain – Labour Party
• Steve Campion  – Reform UK
• Gillian Susan Jackson  – Reform UK
• Margaret Kelly – Liberal Democrat
• Alexander Mackay – Green Party
• Lee-Ann Moir – Labour Party
• Stephen Christopher Ronchetti  – Labour Party
• Pedro Santos  – Reform UK
• Emma Short – Green Party
• Joanne Stanton – Liberal Democrat
• Neil Wilde – Liberal Democrat
• Isa Mackie Wilson – Green Party

Bridges:

• Jonathan Shlomo Aibi – Liberal Democrat
• Alistair James Carr Bassett – Labour Party
• Chris Beer – Labour Party
• Rachel Mary Cabral – Green Party
• Peter Charlton – Reform UK
• Linda Carolyn Cook – Labour Party
• Leon Lesley Dobie – Reform UK
• Mark Andrew Gorman  – Green Party
• Zahra Hakim – Liberal Democrat
• Melissa Amity Harker – Green Party
• Shane Lee Irwin – Reform UK
• Luisa Scott  – Liberal Democrat

Chopwell and Rowlands Gill:

• Victoria Louise Anderson  – Liberal Democrat
• Lynne Caffrey  – Labour Party
• Jean Margaret Callender – Liberal Democrat
• Matthew Davies – Conservative Party
• Majead Farsi – Reform UK
• Linda McFarlane – Reform UK
• Michael McNestry  – Labour Party
• Josh Morland  – Green Party
• Jamie Joe Park  – Labour Party
• Howard Stephen Schofield – Green Party
• Lee Spencer Wood – Reform UK
• Jennifer Young  – Green Party

Chowdene:

• Roy Alexander – Liberal Democrat
• Neil Carpenter  – Reform UK
• Ruth Christina Grant  – Green Party
• Josh Kemp  – Labour Party
• Catherine Mary Knell – Liberal Democrat
• Caitlin McIsaac  – Labour Party
• Sam Morden  – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
• Dev Patel  – Green Party
• Emma Jane Robinson – Liberal Democrat
• Edwin Snaith  – Reform UK
• Andrew David Wallace – Reform UK
• Perry Wilson  – Conservative Party
• Keith Wood – Labour Party

Crawcrook and Greenside: 

• John Clifford Barron  – Reform UK
• Keith Blackett  – Reform UK
• Pat Chanse  – Green Party
• Christopher Anthony Coxon –  Conservative Party
• Shaun Lloyd Edge – Labour Party
• Hugo Fearnley – Green Party
• Peter Gray – Reform UK
• Jemma Louise Healey – Green Party
• Kathryn Alexandra Henderson – Labour Party
• Kathleen McCartney  – Labour Party
• Amelia Louise Ord – Liberal Democrat
• David Graham Randall  – Liberal Democrat

Deckham:

• Alan John Brown – Reform UK
• Barry Malcolm Flux  – Conservative Party
• Martin Gannon – Labour Party
• Sam Grinsell – Green Party
• Norman Hall – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
• Craig Heathcote  – Reform UK
• Leigh Kirton – Labour Party
• Michaela McCaugherty – Liberal Democrat
• Stephen McCaugherty – Liberal Democrat
• Bernadette Teresa Oliphant  – Labour Party
• Patricia Ann Shield – Reform UK
• Paul Stewart  – Green Party
• Roisin Taylor – Green Party

Dunston Hill and Whickham East:

• Nick Allan – Reform UK
• Mary Blanchflower  – Green Party
• Yvonne Dodds – Labour Party
• Lynne Henderson-Lowe –  Liberal Democrat
• Sarah-Jane Homer – Green Party
• Ronnie Jackson – Reform UK
• Jackie Kinnaird – Reform UK
• Joseph March – Labour Party
• Peter James Maughan – Liberal Democrat
• Matthew McManus – Green Party
• Jason Mark Meecham – Liberal Democrat
• Aidan Smith – Conservative Party
• Graham Steele – Save Us Now
• James Frank Watson  – Labour Party

Dunston Teams and Riverside:

• Gosia Balwierz – Green Party
• Dot Burnett – Labour Party
• Diane Cadman  – Green Party
• Brenda Clelland – Labour Party
• Shadrach Esene – Conservative Party
• Gary Haley – Labour Party
• Frank Hindle – Liberal Democrat
• Andrew Christopher Jay – Green Party
• Graham Keating – Reform UK
• Roger James Lee – Liberal Democrat
• Ronald Roger Maraj – Reform UK
• Zoë Frances Meecham – Liberal Democrat
• Alison Christina Porritt – Reform UK

Felling:

• Sophia Elizabeth Beadle  – Liberal Democrat
• Gareth Cooper  – Liberal Democrat
• Sonya Dickie – Labour Party
• Andy Dine  – Reform UK
• David Gilson Fawcett – Liberal Democrat
• Derek Finch  – Reform UK
• George Kasfikis – Labour Party
• Hugh Kelly – Labour Party
• Ash Mclean  – Green Party
• Chrystian Rengifo – Conservative Party
• Liam Snowball  – Green Party
• Garry Thompson – Reform UK

High Fell:

• Joseph  Anyanwu – Green Party
• Shakuntala Beadle – Liberal Democrat
• Leonard Bell – Liberal Democrat
• Arthur Boylin – Reform UK
• Elaine Brunskill – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
• Danielle Cavanagh – Reform UK
• Judith Francesca Therese Gibson – Labour Party
• Sidney Laws – Reform UK
• Catherine O Donovan  – Green Party
• Gabriel Rubinstein – Green Party
• Barry Robert Turnbull – Labour Party
• Kathryn Dorothea Walker – Labour Party
• Andrew Welsh – Liberal Democrat

Lobley Hill and Bensham:

• Kevin Michael Dodds  – Labour Party
• Harry Farncombe – Green Party
• Crystal Hicks  – Labour Party
• Michael Lamport  – Reform UK
• Michelle Susan Merrin  – Reform UK
• Corrina Mulholland – Liberal Democrat
• Andy Redfern  – Green Party
• Michael George Ruddy – Liberal Democrat
• David Simpson – Reform UK
• Tom Whyman – Green Party
• Jonny Witts – Liberal Democrat Focus Team
• Shinu Yohannan – Labour Party

Low Fell:

• John Atkinson  – Reform UK
• Ron Beadle – Liberal Democrat
• Jonathan Dawson  – Conservative Party
• Daniel Stephen Duggan – Liberal Democrat
• Shaun Alexander Dunlop – Labour Party
• Neil Campbell Grant  – Green Party
• Iain Henderson – Reform UK
• Simon James Modern – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
• Arthur Murray – Reform UK
• George James Poxon – Green Party
• Deacon Edward Robson  – Green Party
• Jerome Ruddick  – Labour Party
• Robert Taylor – Labour Party
• Dawn Elizabeth Welsh – Liberal Democrat

Pelaw, Heworth and Bill Quay:

• Nicholas Boldrini  – Green Party
• Joel Cartwright  – Green Party
• James Edward Charlton – Reform UK
• John Paul Diston  – Liberal Democrat
• Sam Daniel Grist  – Labour Party
• Emma Harrison – Labour Party
• Amy Lowes  – Labour Party
• Daniel Edward McFadyen  – Conservative Party
• Caroline Murray  – Reform UK
• Nick Ng – Green Party
• Ian Patterson  – Liberal Democrat
• Michael Vinton – Reform UK
• Amanda Renee Wintcher – Liberal Democrat

Ryton Crookhill and Stella:

• Eleanor Louise Craigan Baggaley – Labour Party
• Christopher William Buckley – Labour Party
• Ros Cooper – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
• Deborah Jacqueline English – Reform UK
• Ollie Hemstock – Green Party
• Stephen Paul Kelly – Liberal Democrat
• Gemma Lockyer Turnbull – Green Party
• Jack Thomas Muers – Liberal Democrat
• Ralf Russow – Green Party
• Shan-Louise Simpson – Liberal Democrat
• Becky Skoyles – Labour Party
• Paul Turnbull  – Reform UK
• Craig Stuart Waite – Reform UK

Saltwell:

• John Frederick Adams – Labour Party
• Ayo Akin – Conservative Party
• David Ayre – Reform UK
• Leanne May Brand – Liberal Democrat
• Owain Curtis – Green Party
• Stephen Gibson – Labour Party
• Graham Hankinson – Green Party
• Simon Michael James – Green Party
• Edita Petrylaite – Liberal Democrat
• David Robert Prior – Reform UK
• Jamie Rickelton – Liberal Democrat
• David Ronald Digby Roberts – Reform UK
• Denise Marianne Robson  – Labour Party

Wardley and Leam  Lane: 

• Gavin Brierley – Reform UK
• Catherine Emma Douglas – Liberal Democrat
• Maria Dynes  – Green Party
• Jill Green  – Labour Party
• Michael Alexander Johnson – Independent
• Fiona Anne Pearce – Reform UK
• Carrie Poon – Green Party
• Sharron Louise Potts – Labour Party
• Peter John Ridden – Labour Party
• Jordan Ridehalgh – Liberal Democrat
• Neil Graham Whittle – Reform UK

Whickham North and Swalwell:

• Jeff Bowe  – Labour Party
• Iona Brown- Green Party
• Ruby Hazel Brown- Green Party
• Lynne Chatt – Reform UK
• Peter Thomas Craig – Liberal Democrat
• Susan Craig – Liberal Democrat
• Christopher James Ord – Liberal Democrat
• Jennifer Anne Peace – Labour Party
• Lynn Robinson – Conservative Party
• Catriona Sibert-Peach – Green Party
• Graeme Mark Wake – Reform UK
• Charles John Whittle – Labour Party
• Sebastian Michael Ziri-Sayle – Reform UK

Whickham South and Sunniside: 

• Lindsay Graham Atkinson – Reform UK
• Alex Geddes – Labour Party
• Joseph Gerrard – Green Party
• Christopher Higham – Conservative Party
• Nicola Ann March – Labour Party
• Jonathan Mohammed – Liberal Democrat
• Marilynn Ord  – Liberal Democrat
• Michael John Pickering – Labour Party
• Mike Porritt – Reform UK
• Wendy Elizabeth Prior – Reform UK
• Ian David Roper – Green Party
• Jonathan Charles Wallace – Liberal Democrat
• Mary Winn – Green Party

Windy Nook and Whitehills: 

• Christine Craig  – Liberal Democrat
• James Robert Cummings – Green Party
• James William Green – Labour Party
• Rachel Hart – Labour Party
• John Neville Sistron – Liberal Democrat
• Jeff Smart – Reform UK
• Julie Smart – Reform UK
• Hillary Thompson – Reform UK
• David William Tones – Green Party
• Lee Turner – Green Party
• Susan Walker – Liberal Democrat
• Joanne Wilson- Labour Party

Winlaton and High Spen: 

• Pamela Marie Burns- Labour Party
• Daniel Clayton – Green Party
• Col Daughtry – Reform UK
• Cheryl May Dixon  – Green Party
• Steven Frederick Dixon  – Green Party
• Maria Theresa Hall – Labour Party
• David Leonard Potts – Liberal Democrat
• Julie Simpson – Labour Party
• Robinson Geoffrey Stanaway – Liberal Democrat
• Steven Tweddle – Reform UK
• Lynda Ann Wilde – Liberal Democrat
• James Wright – Reform UK