Dear Resident,

My name is Sharon Hodgson.

I am your local Labour candidate, running to be re-elected as the MP for Washington and Gateshead South, in the upcoming General Election on the 4th of July.

I have been the MP for our area since 2005, and I am proud of our region and its enormous potential.

In Parliament I have led the campaign to re-open the Leamside Line and bring the Metro to Washington, fought for the introduction of universal free school meals, and fought against the Tory Government to get the investment the North East needs and deserves.

Over the last 14 years, I have seen the damage that the Conservative Government has done.

It is clear that the Conservatives don't have a plan.

They are out of touch, out of ideas, and out of time.

Our country is crying out for CHANGE and only Labour has a long-term plan to get Britain's future back. We will deliver this by:

- Delivering economic stability with tough spending rules;
- Cutting NHS waiting times;
- Launching a new Border Security Command;
- Setting up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power energy company;
- Cracking down on antisocial behaviour, with a return to neighbourhood policing;
- Recruiting 6,500 new teachers and free breakfast clubs in primary schools.

To deliver this change, I urge you to use your postal vote and vote Labour at the next election.

You must make sure that your ballot is posted as quickly as possible to make sure it's counted and to ensure Labour are in the strongest position going into polling day on the 4th of July.

To find out more about your postal vote visit: www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/postal-voting

Change can only come if you vote for it.

You have the chance to end the Tory chaos, and give Britain, and our community its future back.

I hope I will win your support to carry on being a hard-working, local MP who is on the side of all residents across Washington, Redhill, Castle, Birtley and Lamesley.

Best wishes,

Sharon Hodgson

Labour's Parliamentary Candidate for

Washington and Gateshead South - 4th July, 2024


Click on the picture above to apply for a postal vote.

(NB - Photo image copyright: Nikki Powell, 2024)

Sharon Hodgson - Labour's Candidate for the Washington and Gateshead South constituency, GE 2024.

Dear Birtley and Lamesley Residents,

I had the great privilege of being your Member of Parliament (for Blaydon) for 12 years from 2005.

During that time I was proud to belong to a party that had introduced the Minimum Wage, brought peace to Northern Ireland and trebled spending on our NHS.

Locally we saw £360 million spent on improving homes, the building of a walk-in centre in Blaydon, and an Urgent Care Centre at the QE.

We should have had £80 million to rebuild our local schools but, following our defeat in 2010, the Tory/Lib Dem coalition clawed the money back from us.

That was just a start, and in the last 14 years we've seen huge job losses across all our public services, pay freezes, benefit cuts, the introduction of the bedroom tax, Partygate, the PPE scandal, Liz Truss' disastrous period in No 10, and now we are all affected by a huge drop in our living standards.

At this election we face a huge challenge: more of the same with Rishi Sunak, or change for the better with Keir Starmer.

If you, like most of Britain, are desperate for change then I urge you to cast your vote for Sharon Hodgson, the Labour candidate in our area.

I worked with Sharon for many years in Unison, Britain's biggest trade union representing the public service workers who keep this country running.

We started in Parliament together in 2005 and Sharon has never lost her passion for our part of the world, always staying true to her roots and never shrinking from a fight!

She will do us proud!

Vote for Change!  Vote for Labour!  Vote for Sharon!

Dave Anderson (Former MP for Blaydon, 2005 - 2017)

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Apr-May 2024 - number 171

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Feb-Mar 2024 - number 169

(Cover photograph reproduced by kind permission of North News and Pictures)

ECHO COLUMN: Local elections 2024 - voting for the first North East Mayor and an opportunity for change.



In the midst of a Conservative-inflicted cost-of-living crisis, housing stock shortage and the North East experiencing the worst child poverty levels in the country, voters will be going to the polls on the 2nd of May.

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Mar-Apr 2024 - number 170

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Mar-Apr 2024 - number 170

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Feb 2024 - number 168



Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Feb 2024 - number 168

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Dec 2023 – Jan 2024 number 167

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Dec 2023 – Jan 2024 - number 167

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Nov-Dec - 2023 number 166

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report