Elections #2
The result of the North East Assembly referendum came as a disappointment to me - though hardly a surprise given the largely cynical mood I found on my visits back home to the region or on those sometimes uncannily accurate barometers of public opinion that are football message boards on the web.
The following graphic shows the extent of the no vote well:
As Prescott said (from the Guardian):
There were a number of reasons for it [the no vote]: the arguments about more politicians, greater council tax, had a ring with an awful lot of people … there was a feeling, that they didn’t want to get into another tier of government.
Certainly the poll seems to indicate a widespread cynicism about the ability of government and politicians to tackle the region’s problems. Perhaps too, as has been suggested by Prescott, the timing was wrong - an improved economy and a government more favourable to the region than the Thatcher regime of the 80s seemed to lessen the need for a regional assembly. I think too though that intra-regional rivalries played a big role: many in Sunderland were suspicious of what they felt could be a vehicle for expanding Newcastle’s power and many of those with long memories are bitter about the old Tyne-and-Wear council that pooled the resources of the two cities but seemed to confer the benefits of its spending more on Newcastle (not least through the development of the Metro underground railway and Newcastle airport).
