North-east voters reject regional assembly
The deputy prime minister, John Prescott, tonight experienced the bitter taste of defeat after the north-east overwhelmingly rejected his dream of an elected regional assembly on his doorstep.
Over three-quarters of voters showed themselves unwilling to test out devolution, voting against the proposal by a majority of 499,209 on a turnout of 47.8% of the region's 1.9m electorate.
696,519 (77.93%) voted against devolution, with only 197,310 (22.07%) voting in favour of an elected regional assembly to give the region a stronger voice.
Clearly anticipating defeat, Mr Prescott stayed away from the referendum count at Sunderland's Crowtree Leisure Centre and hid away at a university library in readiness for a press conference to be held at 2am.
The result will be a disappointment to the north-east MP who is most closely associated with the devolution project in the north, which he has vigorously been pushing for many years.
The result came in just after 1am this morning exceeding all expectations regarding the strength of feeling against devolution by voters.
John Elliott, spokesman for the North East Says No campaign, said the result sent "a simple message to the government about devolution".
"The government and politicians must take notice of this," he said. "It is a very clear message and they will have to raise their game."
A disappointed John Tomeney, chairman of the Yes 4 The North East campaign, said that the result reflected "something bigger" than the rejection of a regional assembly.
"It is a growing breakdown in the belief that political institutions can affect people's lives for the better. This should concern us all."
He added: "While many people in the north-east feel more prosperous than ever, the north-south divide remains a fact of economic life in England. Successive governments have failed to resolve it. It needs to be addressed."
The 'no' vote cut across the political divide, with many voters in the Labour heartland condemning the concept of elected regional assemblies as an excuse for 'more politicians' to run an extra tier of government which would see local council taxes rise as a result of the precept levied to fund it.
The decision stubs out a political ideal which has been in the wind for the past two decades. An elected regional assembly would have assumed strategic powers for a number of areas ranging from health to culture, housing and transport, to help give the region a stronger voice and more control over its own affairs, backed by £350m direct funding, and influence over a further £600m.
The 'no' vote also means the two-tier county council restructure in Durham and Northumberland, which would have been streamlined into a single or several unitary authorities under an elected regional assembly, will remain intact.
Ross Forbes, director of the Yes 4 the North East campaign, said part of the problem was that people in the north-east were feeling "reasonably affluent" and consequently were not sufficiently persuaded by the need for a regional assembly.
"We have failed to put across properly what the advantage of a regional assembly would be, not helped by a very aggressive campaign [by the 'no' campaign] which has kept simple messages about council tax and 'more politicians'," he said.
"All of the regional government ideas were made in the late 80s and early 90s when the region was really under the cosh. My personal view is that some of the underlying reasons still exist."
The Labour government formerly committed itself to devolution in its 1997 manifesto, which led to the Scottish executive, Welsh assembly, and the return of a London government in the form of the Greater London Authority.
Regional government in the northern regions was a project closest to the deputy prime minister's heart. Mr Prescott has spearheaded the push for northern devolution while most of his colleagues remained impassive.
Early polls taken over the summer of 2002 suggested strong support in the north-east for a similar institution in the region. But as the referendum grew closer, the tide seemed to turn, with 'yes' campaigners becoming increasingly cautious about the prospect of winning.
Even proponents of an elected regional assembly feared the powers proposed under the regional assembly draft bill were insufficient to persuade voters that the assembly would be anything more than 'a talking shop'.
The result will raise questions over the likely prospect of the two referendums due next year in the north-west and the Yorkshire and Humber region ever taking place.
Both referendums were initially scheduled to coincide with the north-east, before the government announced its decision to postpone them last July, following pressure from MPs in the regions - some of whom oppose elected regional assemblies.
The government insisted the delay was due to concerns over hitches with all postal balloting in the regions following the June local and European elections. The local government minister, Nick Raynsford, recently gave a 'cast iron' guarantee that regardless of tonight's results, the other referendums would go ahead under a revised voting method.
But Jane Thomas, head of the 'yes' campaign in the Yorkshire and Humber region, said the government was unlikely to "rush out" the remaining referendums following tonight's defeat, which she blamed on the limited package of powers put forward by the government. The policy had lacked "political vision and leadership," she said.
"One of the things that is abundantly clear, and something we will be saying to the government, is that people are not against the principle of ERA (elected regional assemblies) - they did not like the package. What will come out of this is that it was not strong or robust enough."