Former North of Tyne mayor joins Green Party
Jamie Driscoll says the Greens are serious about long term national interests as Labour labels him a political liability
Former North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll has joined the Green Party, the party announced this week. Driscoll, who served five years as the elected North of Tyne mayor, said Britain’s politics is a mess and that the Greens are serious about running the country in the long term interests of all people.
Elected for Labour in 2019, Driscoll quit the party and ran as an independent in the 2024 North East mayoral election, finishing second to Kim McGuinness. He raised more than £150,000 in donations for his campaign. The Green Party, which has four Newcastle City Council councillors after winning seats there last year, indicated he would stand in Newcastle local elections in May and could seek Parliament if selected in the future.
The Greens described Driscoll as a well known political figure with a proven track record of delivering change to people’s lives. Driscoll said Labour has clearly collapsed and that the shine is coming off Reform, adding that the Green Party is a better vehicle for long term change. In response, Green leader Zack Polanski called the move another example of a Green surge sweeping across the country.
Driscoll has recently been involved in disputes surrounding Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s leftwing Your Party movement. He was a director of MoU Operations Ltd, a company that held more than £800,000 of supporters' donations that Sultana was accused of withholding. Driscoll and two other MoU directors resigned in October, saying they had behaved with integrity while accusing the Your Party project of making factually incorrect claims. When asked why he did not join Your Party, he said he wished them luck but that they were not ready yet.
A Labour spokesperson described Driscoll as a political liability, noting his move from Independent to Majority to Your Party and now the Greens within a short period. He had previously set up his own party, Majority, and spoke of a desire for a progressive alliance to become a force in the city. The shift underscores ongoing realignments within British left and center-left politics as the Green presence grows in the region and nationally.
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The move reflects a broader narrative about the Green surge in local and national politics, with Driscoll expressing a view that a long-term, policy-focused approach is needed to address issues facing workers and small businesses. The May local elections in Newcastle will test how this alliance plays out on the ground as the Greens seek to consolidate gains and expand their footprint in the city.