A SENIOR council leader has pledged to lobby for a better deal for the North-East after he was appointed to lead the group that represents the region's councils.
Councillor Mick Henry, the Gateshead Borough Council leader, has been made chairman of the Association of North-East Councils, which represents the region's 25 authorities.
Speaking at the association's annual meeting in Durham, Coun Henry said the group would press the region's case with the Government.
He said priorities were the restructuring of council finances, which is estimated to cost the region more than £17m through the Area Cost Adjustment formula, and the opening of a direct rail link from Sunderland to London.
He said: "We do not get a good enough deal in the North-East and we are determined that we are going to lobby even harder to turn that around."
The meeting marked a milestone in the association's moves to separate itself from the unelected North-East Assembly, which was announced in March when Melanie Laws was unveiled as the association's new director.
The association has also endorsed two new vice-chairmen -Coun Linda Ebbatson, the leader of Chester-le-Street District Council, and Coun Nigel Martin, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition on Durham County Council.
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