Moss Missives 2010 Review Part Three - Tales of the Unexpected
Who would have thought it? David Cameron and Nick Clegg enter 10 Downing Street together.
Previously in the Moss Missives 2010 Review...election day was looming; Nick Clegg was the sensation of the campaign; David Cameron seemed to be turning certain victory to defeat; Gordon Brown was insulting voters; the Emmerdale vicar was on the election trail; and my Election 2010 bag and I were nearly in a fight.
And so we come to two of the most momentous months in politics for decades.
Abandon all assumptions and prepare for the unexpected. It's Coalition Time!
New Lib Dem MP Ian Swales is congratulated as he pulls off the shock by the campaign by winning in Redcar.
The final push sees the North East and Cumbria targeted by the main party leaders as the election remains on a knife-edge. Gordon Brown is heckled on a visit to Sunderland. Sadly the reason for the heckle remains as vague as Labour's plans for cuts. Nick Clegg fares better in Redcar, although I discover the local Lib Dem battle bus has an out-of-date tax disc. I again sensibly play down any expectation of them winning in the town.
Nick Clegg pops up again in Durham, and then marginal Carlisle becomes the focus for the last 24 hours. David Cameron visits a chippy in the city, while Gordon Brown spends part of his final day at the Eddie Stobart HQ. He looks more relaxed than at any other time in the campaign as he heads home for the results.
And so the nation decides...not to decide. A hung parliament emerges as the result of the election. There is sensation in Redcar as Lib Dem Ian Swales overturns Labour's 12,000 majority to unseat Solicitor General Vera Baird. The Lib Dems though fail to win target seats in Newcastle and Durham.
The Conservatives overtake the Lib Dems to reclaim second place in the North East. They win seats in Carlisle and Stockton South, but fail to shift Labour in top targets Tynemouth, Copeland and Sunderland Central. They narrow Sir Alan Beith's majority in Berwick, but fall further behind Tim Farron as he turns Westmorland and Lonsdale into a safe Lib Dem seat.
After days of negotiations, Gordon Brown resigns and David Cameron becomes head of a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition. Richmond's William Hague becomes Foreign Secretary but no other MPs from the North East and Cumbria make it into government.
David Miliband shocks the nation by revealing his snack of choice is not a banana.
David Miliband declares he will stand to be the next Labour leader. He launches his campaign in South Shields promising to replace New Labour with Next Labour. His campaign website reveals his snack of choice is a Twirl.
The concept of "regions" is given its marching orders by the new government. Regional Spatial Strategies are scrapped with immediate effect. Regional Development Agencies like One North East will go in 2012.
At last, Conservative Anne McIntosh becomes the 650th MP elected as the delayed Thirsk and Malton poll takes place.
Four of the North's new MPs are named among the 50 parliamentarians to watch by Total Politics magazine. Newcastle Central's Chi Onwurah is at 37, Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) makes it to 33, and Wansbeck's Ian Lavery is in at 14. Penrith and the Border's Rory Stewart is the top northerner though, making it to number 3.
News emerges of a possible deal for Corus to sell the Redcar steelworks to Thai company SSI.
June started with taxi driver Derrick Bird killing 12 people in West Cumbria.
The month starts with news of a series of shootings in Cumbria. Taxi driver Derrick Bird drives from Whitehaven to Boot killing 12 people, and injuring 11 before shooting himself. A debate about gun control begins.
News of the shootings gives David Cameron's first PMQs a strange atmosphere. The North's Labour MPs challenge him though on the scrapping of One North East, the review of a grant to Nissan in Sunderland, and the potential sale of Northern Rock.
The Prime Minister visits Whitehaven to meet Copeland MP Jamie Reed and some of those injured by Derrick Bird.
Northern nominations pile up for David Miliband as he becomes the first candidate for the Labour leadership to get the 33 nominations needed to make it on to the ballot paper. He and the other four candidates appear at hustings in Middlesbrough and Newcastle.
It's revealed that "golden goodbye" payments to the North's retiring MPs could cost around £1m. North Tyneside's Stephen Byers is amongst those given the maximum of almost £65,000.
No more monkeying around. Hartlepool Mayor Stuart Drummond is shortlisted for an award.
Former monkey mascot turned Hartlepool mayor Stuart Drummond is shortlisted as one of the World's best mayors.
The first cuts start to be made. Around £8m is taken from police budgets across the region. The forces in Northumbria and Durham have talks about a merger. But the biggest casualty is plans to build a new hospital at Wynyard in Teesside. The Coalition says it can't afford the £464m cost. The Future Jobs Fund is also stopped.
After a review of spending commitments the Government confirms it will be paying a grant to Nissan to help it develop electric cars. A £350m modernisation of the Tyne and Wear Metro is also approved.
George Osborne's emergency budget angers unions in the North, who call it a declaration of war on the region because of likely public sector cuts. The Chancellor though offers National Insurance breaks to businesses outside the South East, and announces plans for a Regional Growth Fund to help areas dependent on the public sector.
Copeland MP Jamie Reed compares media coverage of the Derrick Bird shootings to Hillsborough in a Commons debate.
I'm Richard Moss, the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria. Welcome to my irreverent - but hopefully insightful - northern take on reporting politics for Look North and the Politics Show.
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