I'll go through a few things having lived in the ward most of my life (31 years since I was 7 years old which doesn't include 4 years as a student in Hull). I was also agent for the old Jesmond ward between 1996 and 2000 which includes all of this ward.
Joe isn't strictly right about a North/South split. It's more of an East/West of Osborne Road split with the large majority of multi occupancy houses in the West part. The confusion about which ward Gerry is a former councillor for hasn't been helped by
www.jesmondlocal.com getting it wrong. Gerry's lived in Jesmond for 14 years and is the husband is Lucy Keating who was a councillor here from 2000 to 2008.
I've received leaflets from us (I've delivered elsewhere), Labour and UKIP. I've also received a postal vote letter from UKIP which was also posted to one of our councillors and one of Labour's South Jesmond councillors who both live in the ward (I mean actually all sent by second-class post). I've seen the Conservative A4 in a couple of places but I haven't received it. I haven't seen any Green activity.
We've even had a hustings event! There's also been one in 2012 and 2014. This one was on transport issues, has been filmed and is on here.
candidates in the video are from left to right Smith (Labour), Naqvi (Green), Crute (Conservative), Keating (Lib Dem) and Thompson (UKIP). If you want some humour just go to 1.52.28 where former Labour councillor Bill Dodds mentions that the UKIP candidate always parks in the cycle lane outside his own house on Gosforth High Street and Daniel Thompson responds that his house was there before the cycle lane (I'm in the shot in the back row wearing a black t-shirt). Daniel's reply to a partially-sighted women's query across crossing Osborne Road is 'interesting' at 1.02.40. I'd met him at the count in May and he sounded incredibly bitter that he'd finished fourth out of four in West Gosforth. His performance on certain occasions here didn't surprise me at all. Also at some point Peter Smith the Labour made it clear that he doesn't like Tony Blair.
On the issue of Aldermen the advantage of using Members' catering facilities isn't that useful seeing as we got rid of them not long after coming to power in 2004! I have never seen an alderman or councillor in robes bar the Lord Mayor and the Sheriff.
