The Darlington Labour Party has pledged to improve the lives of people in the town, as it made significant gains to become the largest party on the borough council

Local leader cllr Steve Harker thanked residents for restoring their trust in the party after stating the town had “lost trust” in the Conservatives. Labour came within touching distance of gaining overall control of the council for the first time since 2019 when it lost heavily to the Conservative Party, in a result which led to the town electing Conservative MP Peter Gibson. 

Up to 24 Labour councillors were elected on Friday, however it fell short of the 26 seat threshold required for an overall majority. It means the party must form a coalition with another party/ parties if it wants to gain control of the administration. David Beckett was elected as a Labour councillor in the Brinkburn and Faverdale ward, where the party gained two seats on the Conservatives, however he was recently suspended following comments made about the royal family on social media. It is believed the decision came too late for him to be removed from the ballot paper. 

Cllr Harker said: “It’s a great day for the Labour Party in Darlington. There’s a huge amount of work that needs doing, and I’m grateful people have put their faith in us. Working with residents, businesses and communities, there’s an enormous task ahead of us but we’re raring to go to make the lives of people better in the future. 

“The real message is quite clear, people in Darlington have lost trust in the Conservatives. They’ve placed their trust in us, and they’re clearly thinking we can do a better job.”

 

Cllr Harker said discussions will take place in the coming days with other parties about forming a coalition. He also opened the door for future team work with Peter Gibson MP, despite representing opposing parties.  “This local authority will work with the MP and the combined authority, it’s about what’s best for Darlington and the Tees Valley,” he said. 

While Peter Gibson is willing to work with Labour, he’s concerned about a potential coalition with the Green Party. “I worry that co-operation will be jeopardised by Labour and the Greens in a coalition refusing to work with me out of political differences rather than for the good of the town. I also worry that the new administration, with Labour controlled by the Greens as we warned would be the case,  won't have the ability to resolve the issues their campaigns said they would.

“Will our local plan be scrapped? Costing millions? Will Labour really fix the issues with MAM as they promised? I do worry that this is a backwards step for the town but the people have spoken and that must be respected. 

“Whoever runs Darlington Borough Council I will continue to work as hard as I have done since day one for the people of Darlington, and I will obviously hold them to account for their performance in running services here.”

Conservative leader cllr Jonathan Dulstion believes national issues, such as the cost of living crisis, affected his party’s performance on the doorstep. There are now just 15 Conservative councillors on the council. “It’s been really disappointing, it’s not the result we anticipated,” he said. “People could see the council had changed, sadly it is in the backdrop of national issues which we haven’t got a grip of yet. 

 

His party’s loss is Labour’s gain but cllr Dulston also raised concern over the direction of the town under Labour rule. He said: “I feel that locally the Labour Party has failed to evolve, they’ve got the same faces that have been in control for 28 years. I almost have this feeling we’re going to go backwards as a town, we’ve got ambition and we’re re-energised.”

The Conservatives too will be opening coalition talks with other parties in the hope of continuing on the council. “We’d be open for talks, we’ve got a plan, and people we’ve already started delivering that. We will continue to make sure Darlington maximises its potential moving forward.”

The Green Party is also celebrating significant wins in the North East of the town, improving its number of seats from two to seven. Party leader Matthew Snedker labelled it an “absolutely fantastic result”. He added: “To have this amount of confidence put in us by the public is great.”

Members praised the grassroots nature of the party and its popularity on the doorstep, particularly in Harrowgate Hill where it overturned a three-seat Conservative majority to win the ward outright.  

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Cllr Snedker said: “The Skerningham development and the Springfield Park issues were an area where people came to us for help and said ‘we’ve fallen out of love with the Labour and Conservative parties’. We shared their values, it’s no more complicated.”

And with seven seats on the council, the party’s future decisions will prove significant for future rule of the council. Is the Green Party willing to form a coalition? “We stood on a local manifesto and we will stand by that, we’ve got great ideas to make Darlington better for the future,” cllr Snedker said.

“We don’t stand on dogma, we work on evidence and we work for what’s best for people at that time and place. We’re not commenting on any coalitions, we have a manifesto that is popular and we'll stick up for those policies that we stand by.”