Labour Party confirms final Northumberland candidate for election

It has been confirmed that charity boss David Smith will be standing in the new North Northumberland Constituency for the party. Mr Smith is currently the chief executive of Gateshead-based homelessness charity Oasis Community Housing.

The North Northumberland seat has been re-established for the next election following the 2023 boundary review of constituencies. It takes in the former Berwick-Upon-Tweed Constituency as well as Morpeth, which was previously in the now-abolished Wansbeck seat.

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Mr Smith was born and grew up in the west of Scotland, but has lived in Sunderland for the last 17 years. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he explained his background.

Mr Smith said: “I’m really honoured and delighted to be selected as a candidate and I’m looking forward to the campaign. I was born and brought up in the west of Scotland, but I haven’t lived there since I was 21.

“I moved to the North East 17 years ago, I married a North East girl, I raised my family here. The North East is very much home to me.

“I’ve spent over 20 years in leadership roles in the charity sector. Seven years ago I decided to really focus on where I live. Oasis works with about 1,300 people every year and has lots of properties where we house and support people.”

Mr Smith explained why his work had pushed him to stand for public office.

He continued: “It’s been a really big part of my experience, supporting people through really difficult experiences. That really is the primary reason I have decided to enter politics.

“It has been so frustrating over the last 14 years to see the growing inequality between the haves and the have-nots, seeing an increasingly large number of people allowed to slip off the edge. We’re seeing more and more people slip into homelessness.

“Services such as youth services or drug and alcohol services that can stop people from becoming homeless either aren’t there any more or are extremely under-resourced and overstretched. The charity sector has to step in – I’ve seen that first-hand.

“It’s like being an ambulance at the top of the cliff. Yes, we can do amazing things if someone falls off, but at some point wouldn’t it be better to build a fence? Only through politics can you build those fences, it was a no-brainer for me.”

Asked about his chances at the next election, Mr Smith said: “I’m genuinely taking nothing for granted, no votes have been cast yet.

“The Berwick seat has never been Labour, so it will be challenging. That being said, we have been on the doorsteps and there’s a palpable sense that people want change.”

One of the biggest issues facing the constituency is the campaign to dual the A1 north of Morpeth. Mr Smith said that he would like to see the road dualled – however, he also said that he would first focus on improving safety.

He continued: “Everybody knows there is a lot of work that needs to be done. In an ideal world, of course we would want that dualled, it’s something to work towards.

“The current MP has been making a lot of claims for dualling it in recent years. I would rather focus on making sure that the road is safe and we do what we can as quickly as we can to make sure the dangerous junctions are as safe as possible.”

Incumbent Berwick MP Anne Marie Trevelyan, who was first elected in 2015, will contest the seat for the Conservatives. Katherine Hales is the Reform UK candidate, while the Liberal Democrats have put forward Natalie Younes.

Traditionally, the seat was contested by the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, with Alan Beith serving as Liberal Democrat MP from 1973 until 2015. However, the current polls suggest a tight battle between Labour and the Tories.

According to the model produced by Britain Elects and the New Statesman, Labour is currently polling at 33.2 per cent, while the Conservatives are polling at 30 per cent. It is worth noting that this model does not use the new constituency boundaries.