Alan Campbell for Tynemouth

28/05/2026

Don’t forget tomorrow is the last day to complete the North East Mayor’s Women and Girls Safety Survey.

Your response will help shape future plans for the safety of women and girls in our region.

Take part at:

Please take a few minutes to take our survey.

27/05/2026

I am delighted that having made representations on behalf of local churches and faith groups, Historic England has opened two funds for applications - Places of Worship Renewal Fund and Heritage At Risk Capital Fund.

The Places of Worship Renewal Fund is a new £92 million programme supporting the repair of listed places of worship across England and targeted at areas in most need. Delivered by Historic England and funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the fund will run over four years to March 2030.

The fund is open to all faiths and denominations, and places of worship do not need to be on the Heritage at Risk Register to apply.
The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest for the first round of grants is midnight, Sunday 14 June 2026. Further rounds of grants will follow later in the year and in future years.

Find out more about both schemes at:

https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/grants/what-we-fund/places-of-worship-renewal-fund/

https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/grants/what-we-fund/heritage-at-risk-capital-fund/

Find out about this 4-year, £92 million grant scheme for repair and maintenance of historic places of worship.

22/05/2026

Have a great bank holiday weekend and don't forget the brilliant Whitley Bay Carnival tomorrow.

21/05/2026

Here's my latest News Guardian column:

It was an enormous honour to be involved in the ceremony around the King’s Speech.

Their Majesties came to Parliament to open the second session and to set out the Government’s legislative programme for the next year. More than 30 bills will build on the legislation of the first session, fulfilling more of the commitments made at the General Election.

Pomp and ceremony is something our nation does well but behind all that is a serious programme for the next stage in government.
Falling inflation and interest rates coupled with the highest growth in the G7 shows the wisdom of earlier budgets but the current conflict around the Straits of Hormuz threatens to derail some of that progress and means tackling the cost of living remains a priority. But even when progress returns there can be no return to the status quo.

The last economic crash, austerity, the Truss budget, Covid and Ukraine all altered what was normal which is why this King’s Speech will make lasting change in the interests of working people. Lower bills will result from securing energy independence. Our essential infrastructure will be secured by, for example, steel public ownership.

It’s about having an active state with an NHS Bill, an Education for All Bill and Police Reform. A Clean Water Bill will clean up our rivers and seas, and an EU Bill will deepen our partnership with the EU to repair the damage of Brexit. These are just a taste of what’s to come in our bid to build a stronger, fairer future and restore hope to our country.

15/05/2026

Following recent anti-social behaviour at the coast, I have now had a further update from Northumbria Police regarding Operation Coastwatch and High Tide.

Please see the full update on my website at:

Following recent anti-social behaviour at the coast, I have now had a further update from Northumbria Police regarding Operation Coastwatch and High Tide. HIGH TIDE Resourcing and Deployments | May – September 2026 Purpose HIGH TIDE is a planned series of Days of Action focused on identified high....

13/05/2026

Today is the State Opening of Parliament and the King's Speech.

You can find out more about this historic occasion at:

The State Opening of Parliament takes place on Wednesday 13 May. Find out about the role of the House of Commons in State Opening and the King’s Speech debate.

11/05/2026

This is Mental Health Awareness Week.

The online environment can be a driver of both good and bad mental health. Far too often, its potential for good is negated by the harms faced by both children and adults online.

We’ve come a long way and together we can make sure we don’t risk going backwards on mental health. We need action to address the root causes of mental ill health, so that we can all stay well.

07/05/2026

My latest News Guardian column:

With Parliament prorogued before next week’s Kings Speech I took the opportunity to catch up on constituency visits.

I visited Marine Park School to see at first hand the excellent work the school are doing, following their visit to Westminster. Marine Park is at the heart of the Whitley Bay community, and I was reminded when we brought the new school of the naysayers who thought the old school just needed “a coat of paint”.

The Meadows is one of the venues in North Shields where local residents are being asked their views on Pride in Place – £20 million over the next ten years to improve the area from Percy Main to the centre of North Shields. The Meadows work with local youth projects and the local foodbank bringing together and holding together the local community.

I also visited Renew on the Royal Quays where North Tyneside Big Local are working with Suez to recycle unwanted furniture for residents across our community. People were coming into the unit to buy affordable household goods but also others including businesses bringing in unwanted goods.

And on Saturday I went along to a celebration fun day at Monkseaton Middle School which is redeveloping into an 11-16 school catering particularly for children with additional needs. A community coming together to save and secure their school’s future.

Community is sometimes an overused word. Some work tirelessly to strengthen our local community, others seem hell bent on causing division. Local elections are a test of who we are as a community and who we want to be. There’s a lot at stake.

05/05/2026

Here's my latest Community News:

04/05/2026

I know local residents are understandably worried about the anti-social behaviour we witnessed in Tynemouth over the weekend.

I saw at first hand on Friday the visible police presence in Tynemouth.

I had recently asked for an update from local police regarding this year’s Operation Coastwatch which tackles anti-social behaviour and disorder on the North Tyneside coast during the spring and summer months.

The police confirmed they will be carrying out regular proactive patrols and this year, the operation includes High Tide days of action, during which enhanced resources, high visibility patrols and co-ordinated partner activity will be deployed.

Police are working alongside the North Tyneside Council’s Community Protection and Licensing Team, Metro security staff and others to keep North Tyneside the safe and welcoming place it is for all.

Anyone with concerns should approach an officer on duty or send Northumbria Police a direct message on social media or by using the live chat and report forms on the Force’s website. Those unable to make contact via the above ways should call 101.

Our beautiful coastline rightly draws a huge number of visitors and young people are no exception. However, behaviour we saw over the weekend is not acceptable and I’m working with all agencies to make sure that everything that can be done is being done.