North East Mayor elections: Who is Jamie Driscoll?

Jamie Driscoll is running for North East Mayor as an independent

Voters will elect the first ever North East mayor on 2 May.

The winner will represent two million people living in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham and will get powers and funding from Westminster to make decisions locally.

Jamie Driscoll is the current mayor for the North of Tyne

He is standing as an independent after the Labour party decided not to shortlist him as their candidate. Mr Driscoll, 53, has been the North of Tyne Mayor since 2019 and previously ran a software development business. He lives in Gosforth with his wife, who is a GP, and two sons.

His top priority is to build a 'total transport network'

He wants low-fares, with buses under public control and integrated with new Metro and rail routes, on one ticket. He also wants free transport for under-19s and those in full-time education.

He has pledged to 'sort out' the buses

Fixing transport will create thousands of well-paid permanent jobs, with life-long training opportunities, and boost green industries, he said.

He says he has a proven track record

Mr Driscoll said he has created 5,377 jobs, 2,133 homes, run projects in 240 schools including child poverty prevention – all without putting a penny on council tax.

He thinks underinvestment is the biggest challenge for the area

He says the north east of England has suffered underinvestment for decades. He said: "I negotiated this £6bn devolution deal, which is a good start to fixing that, and I’ll lever in billions of pounds more in private investment."

He loves that people in the North East are 'friendly and down to earth'

"People will just chat in a shop or on the bus, you don’t get that everywhere," Mr Driscoll said.