The Labour party has managed to hold on to both seats up for grabs in the South and North Jesmond wards in the 2022 local elections.

Stella Postlethwaite retained her seat for North Jesmond, while Laura Cummings won the seat for South Jesmond.

The turnout in was around 35% in the North Jesmond ward, while turnout in South Jesmond came in at 30%. North Jesmond’s eligible electorate is 5,798, with 2,047 voting in this years election. For South Jesmond, 1,820 out of a 6,169-strong electorate voted.

The number of valid votes at 2,047 is down 8% from 2,214 in 2021 in North Jesmond, echoing similarly low turnout elsewhere.

In North Jesmond, Postlethwaite won with 885 votes for Labour, but there was a strong showing for Liberal Democrat candidate Phillip Browne who claimed 845 (41%) – just 40 votes behind the winner. Labour did see their majority decreasing by 10 votes compared to 2021’s results.

JesmondLocal spoke to Postlethwaite after her win, who said she was feeling “a mixture of relief and excitement” and was “really thrilled” with the result.

In the ward, the Conservatives lost around 100 votes and Greens 150, while the Reform Party gained just 28 votes.

Meanwhile, in the South Jesmond ward, Labour triumphed by a greater majority. Cummings won by a landslide with 1,078 votes, 59% of the eligible votes cast.

Coming in second to her was Joshua Clarke of the Conservative party with 265 votes, taking 15% of the ballots. Tim Dowson (Green) followed with 241 votes, and Tom Appleby (Lib Dems) was on 236.

The results were a re-run of the last local election, held in May 2021, that saw Labour manage to retain both its seats with Tanya Pretswell for North Jesmond and Charlie Gray for South Jesmond.

In addition to Pretswell and Gray, Postlethwaite and Cummings join Councillors Lesley Storey (Lab) for South Jesmond and Gerry Keating (Lib Dems) for North Jesmond.

On a larger scale, Newcastle city council now has 51 Labour councillors, 21 Liberal Democrats, three Independent candidates and three Newcastle Independents, with the Liberal Democrats gaining one seat from last year.