Who Represents You in Newcastle City Centre: MPs, Councillors and the Mayor

Whether you want to report a problem on your street, comment on a planning application, or raise a national issue, it helps to know who actually represents you. If you live in Newcastle city centre you have four layers to get to grips with: the councillors elected for your ward, Newcastle City Council as a whole, the Member of Parliament for your constituency, and the North East Mayor. This is a factual, non-partisan guide to who does what, correct as of October 2026, and how to have your say.

Your ward councillors

For council elections Newcastle is divided into 26 wards, each electing three councillors. New ward boundaries, drawn up by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, came into force at the election of 7 May 2026, when all 78 seats were contested at once.

Most of the city centre, including Grainger Town, Haymarket, Chinatown, the Bigg Market and Central Station, falls within Monument ward. According to the council's councillor listings, Monument's three councillors are Jamie Driscoll, Gareth Jones and Kiran Sayyed, all of the Green Party.

The Ouseburn valley on the eastern edge of the centre is in Ouseburn ward, whose councillors are Alistair Chisholm, Lawrence Davies and Sarah Peters, also all Green Party.

Ward boundaries do not always follow the streets you might expect, so it is worth checking your own postcode. The council's councillors and committees pages list every councillor by ward, with official contact details, and the national Write to Them service will find your councillors and MP from a postcode. Councillors take up local casework, sit on committees, and can be contacted by email or at their advertised surgeries.

From 2027 Newcastle returns to electing "by thirds": one seat in each ward is contested in three years out of four, with elections scheduled for 6 May 2027, 4 May 2028 and 2 May 2030.

Newcastle City Council: who is in charge

Newcastle City Council, based at the Civic Centre on Barras Bridge, is a unitary authority, so it runs nearly every local service: bins and recycling, council tax, planning, highways, parking, libraries, schools and social care. For the practical side, see our Newcastle City Council services guide.

The May 2026 election left the council in no overall control, meaning no single party holds the 40 seats needed for a majority. The Liberal Democrats won the most seats (25). At the time of writing the council's member listings show 25 Liberal Democrat, 24 Green, 23 Reform UK, 3 Independent Group, 2 Labour and 1 Independent councillor; by-elections and changes of group can shift these numbers.

The Leader of the Council is Cllr Colin Ferguson (Liberal Democrat, Gosforth ward), appointed at the annual council meeting on 27 May 2026. He leads a minority Liberal Democrat administration, supported by a memorandum of understanding with the Green Party group that the council describes as stopping short of a formal coalition. The Leader chairs the Cabinet, which takes most day-to-day executive decisions; full council sets the budget and major policies.

Council and committee meetings are generally open to the public, and agendas, minutes and decisions are published on the council's democracy website.

Your MP

At Westminster the city centre is split between two constituencies, both created by the 2023 boundary review and first used at the July 2024 general election.

• Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West covers most of the city centre. The MP is Dame Chi Onwurah (Labour).
• Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend takes in most of the Ouseburn area on the eastern fringe. The MP is Mary Glindon (Labour).

Parliamentary boundaries were drawn using the old council wards, so they no longer line up exactly with the new 2026 wards. The reliable way to confirm your MP is the official Find your MP tool on the UK Parliament website, which also gives their contact details. MPs vote on national legislation and take up individual casework with government departments, such as benefits, immigration or passports.

Rule of thumb: for bins, parking, planning and local services, go to your ward councillors or the council. For anything run by central government, your MP is the right first port of call.

The North East Mayor

Newcastle is one of seven councils, alongside County Durham, Gateshead, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland, that make up the regional mayoral authority. It was formed on 7 May 2024 as the North East Combined Authority and renamed the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority in May 2026.

The North East Mayor is Kim McGuinness (Labour), elected in May 2024 as the region's first mayor. The mayoral authority's work covers areas such as public transport, adult skills and regional investment. The next mayoral election is due in May 2028.

The authority is based at The Lumen on St James' Boulevard (NE4 5BZ). The Mayor's office can be reached at mayorsoffice@northeast-ca.gov.uk or on 0191 211 5695 (9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday), and the Mayor holds regular public "Mayor Meets" question-and-answer events across the region.

Policing is overseen separately by the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, an elected role that holds the Chief Constable to account and sets the force's budget.

How to register to vote

You cannot vote in any election unless you are on the electoral register. Registering takes about five minutes at gov.uk/register-to-vote; you will need your National Insurance number. Students can be registered at both their term-time and home addresses, which matters in a city centre with so many students, though you can only vote once in a general election.

You need accepted photo ID to vote in person at most elections in England. If you do not have any, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate through gov.uk. Postal and proxy votes are available if getting to a polling station is difficult.

Having your say between elections

Voting is only part of it. The council runs public consultations on everything from transport schemes to the annual budget, and planning applications are published on its planning portal for comment. Writing to your councillors or MP, attending a surgery, or going along to a council meeting remain some of the most direct ways to raise an issue.

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