Mayor of North Tyneside Norma Redfearn to step down after 12 years

Dame Norma Redfearn was first elected as a councillor in 2004 after three decades as a teacher. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

The Mayor of North Tyneside has announced she will step down in 2025 and will not seek re-election.

Dame Norma Redfearn has held the directly-elected position since 2013 but an email sent to local party members on Monday (13 May), seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, confirms she will not stand for a fourth term.

It means the process will begin to select her replacement as the Labour candidate in the North Tyneside Mayoral election billed for 2025.

Dame Redfearn said: “It has been a great honour to serve as Mayor of North Tyneside. I want to thank the residents for electing me to serve 12 years as Elected Mayor of this borough. I will not be seeking re-election next year when my third term ends.

“During the last 11 years, we’ve achieved a lot, despite the mess we inherited from the previous Conservative administration in 2013 and a hostile Tory Government. I’ll spend my last year as I did my first, focusing on building a better North Tyneside and making the borough a better place to live, work, and visit.

“I look forward to campaigning for a Labour Government later this year and for the Labour candidate to be the next Mayor of North Tyneside.”

Dame Norma Redfearn has served as Mayor of North Tyneside since 2013. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Before entering politics, Dame Redfearn spent thirty years as a teacher, including as head teacher at West Walker Primary School.

She was elected to North Tyneside council in 2004, representing the Riverside ward. She joined the local authority's cabinet with responsibility for children and young people from 2005 to 2009.

From December 2018, she also held the role of interim Mayor for the North of Tyne Combined Authority until Jamie Driscoll took on the role in May of 2019.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “We’d like to thank Dame Norma for everything she has done for the people of North Tyneside as their elected Mayor over the last 12 years.

"She has been a passionate advocate for North Tyneside and the wider North East and played a major part in negotiating the devolution deal which delivered the region’s first-ever Mayor. She can be incredibly proud of all she has achieved.”

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