Green Party joins North East mayoral election race as candidate announced

Andrew Gray vowed to put communities “back in control” of the major resources set to be handed to the new regional leader if he is successful in next May’s poll.

An archivist at Durham University, Mr Gray has previously stood for the Greens in local council and Parliamentary elections in Newcastle.

The 55-year-old said that, with the new North East Mayoral Combined Authority due to receive billions in Government funding, money should be spent “directly within the neighbourhoods” rather than “trickling down from big regional projects”.

Mr Gray said his top priority would be retrofitting houses to make them warmer and cheaper to heat.

He added: “The North East is full of housing that is not well-built. It is not really acceptable in the 21st century that people are paying more and more for their fuel bills and rent while living in homes that could be more efficient.

“That is an absolute priority for me – giving people that security so they are not always on the lookout for another house because they cannot afford to pay their bills.”

His manifesto will also include a pledge to ensure “reliable, integrated, frequent” public transport for the North East.

Mr Gray joins Labour’s Kim McGuinness, independent Jamie Driscoll and Conservative Guy Renner-Thompson in the mayoral race. The Liberal Democrats are expected to announce a candidate in the coming weeks.

Mr Gray, who was brought up in Northumberland and now lives in the Heaton area of Newcastle, said he hoped to “hold other candidates’ feet to the fire” over their own environmental pledges.