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Uhura's Mazda - List of First Ministers of North East England
List of First Ministers of North East England
2006-2011: Stephen Byers (Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition)
2006 def: Alan Beith (Liberal Democrat), Michael Fallon (Conservative), Terry Deary (An Independent For Grammar)
2011-2011: Stephen Byers (Labour)
2011 def: Michael Fallon (Conservative), Ian Swales (Liberal Democrat), Alan Shearer (North East Party)
2011-2021: David Miliband (Labour)
2016 def: James Wharton (Conservative), Jonathan Arnott (UKIP), Ian Swales (Liberal Democrat)
2021-2022: James Wharton (Conservative-Liberal Democrat-UKIP-Continuity Liberal coalition)
2021 def: David Miliband (Labour), Julie Pörksen (Liberal Democrat), Philip Broughton (UKIP), Kathy King (Continuity Liberal)
2022-2026: Simon Henig (Labour-Continuity Liberal coalition)
2026-2028: Jonathan Arnott (Abolish the North East Assembly Alliance: Five Pints Movement-Conservative-Socialist Appeal coalition)
2026 def: Simon Henig (Labour), Guy Opperman (Conservative), Julie Pörksen (Remain!), 'It Is Illegal To Use A Legal Name' (Socialist Appeal)
The context for the period up to 2016 is here.
Part Two
Andy Burnham led Labour to an abysmal defeat in 2020 against Boris 'Fucking' Johnson, and was followed as leader by left-wing firebrand and recent embryo Owen Jones, who had come in at the Islington North by-election of 2018 and was therefore unsullied by voting for the War in Syria. The following year, a combination of Labour's national issues and local fatigue with the one-party Labour NE Government (which had made itself unpopular by implementing cuts more extreme than the national rate and actually running a sizeable budget surplus in one of the most deprived regions of the UK) lost Miliband his majority. He initially proposed to carry on with a minority administration, but to the surprise of many, all four opposition parties managed to work together for a whole eleven months. However, it couldn't last forever, and in the middle of a chaotic dispute over the impact of the Second Brexit Referendum, both the Lib Dems and UKIP pulled out of the coalition at exactly the same time, neither having heard of the other's calling of a press conference until it was too late. The Continuity Liberal AM for Tyne and Wear South supported old Labour hand Simon Henig, giving the new Government a working majority, not counting the Presiding Officer.
Henig, even with the best will in the world, could not magic up money where there was none. The Second Brexit Referendum of 2020 now meant that Britain was ejected from the EU in May 2022, without having finalised trade deals with any nations other than New Zealand, Liechtenstein and, in a move that drew some considerable criticism, the Islamic State. As such, the Pound collapsed in value and thousands of business went bust across the country. The Emergency Budget, delivered by Chancellor Rees-Mogg, saw a cut of 80% of funding to devolved areas and even the reserves that Miliband had accumulated couldn't cover the cost. After 2024, the Assembly was functionally insolvent, and no North-Easterner can forget the day that BedePower shut off the lights at Durham Castle during a debate, until Labour's James Hall found some coins to feed the meter. Jonathan Arnott, former Leader of North East UKIP, tapped into the public mood with his speeches against the very principle of the Assembly, and his multi-Party alliance swept Labour (and the feeble remnants of UKIP) aside in the 2026 elections.
The last of the non-ringfenced money available to the Assembly had been spent on those elections, so Arnott and his merry band were only able to finance the conducting of Permanent Dissolution arrangements with the Department of Admin and General Crap* by selling off all of the assets of the Assembly to the highest bidder. As such, those lucky students who can afford to go to school in Northumberland still sing the Monsanto company anthem (don't ask) every morning between Chemistry and Food Technology.
*Government has become a lot more informal since the first TOWIE viewers entered the Houses of Parliament.
2006-2011: Stephen Byers (Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition)
2006 def: Alan Beith (Liberal Democrat), Michael Fallon (Conservative), Terry Deary (An Independent For Grammar)
2011-2011: Stephen Byers (Labour)
2011 def: Michael Fallon (Conservative), Ian Swales (Liberal Democrat), Alan Shearer (North East Party)
2011-2021: David Miliband (Labour)
2016 def: James Wharton (Conservative), Jonathan Arnott (UKIP), Ian Swales (Liberal Democrat)
2021-2022: James Wharton (Conservative-Liberal Democrat-UKIP-Continuity Liberal coalition)
2021 def: David Miliband (Labour), Julie Pörksen (Liberal Democrat), Philip Broughton (UKIP), Kathy King (Continuity Liberal)
2022-2026: Simon Henig (Labour-Continuity Liberal coalition)
2026-2028: Jonathan Arnott (Abolish the North East Assembly Alliance: Five Pints Movement-Conservative-Socialist Appeal coalition)
2026 def: Simon Henig (Labour), Guy Opperman (Conservative), Julie Pörksen (Remain!), 'It Is Illegal To Use A Legal Name' (Socialist Appeal)
The context for the period up to 2016 is here.
Part Two
Andy Burnham led Labour to an abysmal defeat in 2020 against Boris 'Fucking' Johnson, and was followed as leader by left-wing firebrand and recent embryo Owen Jones, who had come in at the Islington North by-election of 2018 and was therefore unsullied by voting for the War in Syria. The following year, a combination of Labour's national issues and local fatigue with the one-party Labour NE Government (which had made itself unpopular by implementing cuts more extreme than the national rate and actually running a sizeable budget surplus in one of the most deprived regions of the UK) lost Miliband his majority. He initially proposed to carry on with a minority administration, but to the surprise of many, all four opposition parties managed to work together for a whole eleven months. However, it couldn't last forever, and in the middle of a chaotic dispute over the impact of the Second Brexit Referendum, both the Lib Dems and UKIP pulled out of the coalition at exactly the same time, neither having heard of the other's calling of a press conference until it was too late. The Continuity Liberal AM for Tyne and Wear South supported old Labour hand Simon Henig, giving the new Government a working majority, not counting the Presiding Officer.
Henig, even with the best will in the world, could not magic up money where there was none. The Second Brexit Referendum of 2020 now meant that Britain was ejected from the EU in May 2022, without having finalised trade deals with any nations other than New Zealand, Liechtenstein and, in a move that drew some considerable criticism, the Islamic State. As such, the Pound collapsed in value and thousands of business went bust across the country. The Emergency Budget, delivered by Chancellor Rees-Mogg, saw a cut of 80% of funding to devolved areas and even the reserves that Miliband had accumulated couldn't cover the cost. After 2024, the Assembly was functionally insolvent, and no North-Easterner can forget the day that BedePower shut off the lights at Durham Castle during a debate, until Labour's James Hall found some coins to feed the meter. Jonathan Arnott, former Leader of North East UKIP, tapped into the public mood with his speeches against the very principle of the Assembly, and his multi-Party alliance swept Labour (and the feeble remnants of UKIP) aside in the 2026 elections.
The last of the non-ringfenced money available to the Assembly had been spent on those elections, so Arnott and his merry band were only able to finance the conducting of Permanent Dissolution arrangements with the Department of Admin and General Crap* by selling off all of the assets of the Assembly to the highest bidder. As such, those lucky students who can afford to go to school in Northumberland still sing the Monsanto company anthem (don't ask) every morning between Chemistry and Food Technology.
*Government has become a lot more informal since the first TOWIE viewers entered the Houses of Parliament.
- Uhura's Mazda
- Word Count: 660