North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll said being “independently-minded” was behind him not being selected to stand for Labour in the new position of mayor of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority.
Mr Driscoll was elected in 2019 as the North of Tyne mayor for the party, but quit the party when he was not selected for the role covering a larger area.
Mr Driscoll told the BBC’s Iain Watson he had been urged by Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent politicians to run for the new job.
