The doctor can’t see you now – 15% of people across the North East and North Cumbria who try to make a GP appointment don’t get one, whilst 59,947 are forced to wait over a month.

After all the sleaze, the scandals and the failure, it’s time for proper change.



At long last, Boris Johnson has announced that he will be stepping down as leader of the ruling Conservative party.  And yet, this disgraced, law-breaking Prime Minister is trying to cling to power and wait until autumn to resign as PM.

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Jun-July 2022 number 152



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

Labour will sort out backlog and put patients at core of NHS.



When my constituent Adam (his name has been changed to protect his privacy) asked for an appointment with a doctor, he was made to wait three months. At the consultation he was told he needed a full hip replacement and that he would have to wait another nine months for a surgery date. Six months later, he called the hospital to ask when that date might be. The hospital told him that he would have to wait a further twelve months.

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - May-Jun 2022 number 151

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report number 151

The announcement that Go North East will scale back bus services across the North East is utterly predictable.  When central government fails to provide proper funding for bus services, companies are forced to cut back on vital bus routes because they are unviable to run.  It makes a mockery of levelling up and leaves behind the communities that need public transport the most.

The Tories are not overseeing a cost of living crisis; they are its very cause.  This year, families in the North East and nationwide will fork out an extra ​ten billion pounds on petrol, when compared to this time last year. This is money our families simply do not have.

Echo Column: Office closure makes it clear levelling-up rhetoric is hollow.