When we first decided to hold Debates in all five of the North East local authority areas holding elections in May 2026 we weren’t sure we’d be able to pull it off. But with lots of help and support – from the Young Women’s Film Academy, from the candidates, the venues (especially Women’s Health in South Tyneside – lovely soup!) – and funding from the Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust, we did it!

The amazing One Million Women and Girls team of volunteers put on five stellar events in Gateshead, Sunderland, South Shields, North Shields and Newcastle. Twenty candidates from five different parties took part, with the ever incisive and well-prepared Jacqui Hodgson chairing magnificently.

377 of you attended in person: mums brought their daughters; groups came from community projects; in North Shields the Youth Council was out in force. Another 168 of you watched the livestream of a Debate whilst it was happening, with 292 viewings of the recordings in the weeks afterward.

What were the issues important to women and girls?

You submitted well over a hundred questions in advance and we prioritised the themes and topics that you were most concerned about, in each area. There were some topics that came up in every area:

safety in public spaces and on public transport;
support for survivors of violence and abuse;
the impact of misogyny on girls and young women (and on boys and young men).

However, there were other topics that felt very area-specific, including:

the enduring impact of the 2024 riots in Sunderland and how to build community cohesion;
the lack of genuinely affordable and social housing in North Tyneside;
the gap in refuge provision in South Tyneside.

Now that the elections are over we are reflecting on our next steps. All the candidates agreed to our Pledges and we will be following up with them and their fellow councillors over the summer to ask what concrete steps they are going to take to maximise the potential of women and girls in our region. We are alarmed to see the May 2026 results saw a substantial drop in the number of women councillors across the area and you might be too. If you have any suggestions about what next, or would like to get involved, just email us.

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