Membership

Simon Henig has been Leader of Durham County Council since 2008, guiding the council through its transition to unitary local government. He is Chair of both the Association of North East Councils and the County Durham Partnership. At national level, he is Deputy Chair of the People and Places Board of the Local Government Association. He is a Principal Lecturer in Politics at Sunderland University and has authored several books on the subject.

Councillor Martin Gannon was born in County Durham but has lived in Gateshead for over forty years. He is married with a daughter. He was first elected as a councillor in 1984. In 2010 he was appointed as Deputy Leader and then Leader in May 2016. He is actively involved in a number of major national bodies, including the Local Government Association. Locally he represents Gateshead on various regional bodies. Prior to taking up the role of Deputy Leader he was a Regional Officer for GMB Trade Union from 1987 to 2010.

Norma Redfearn took up her four-year term of office as Elected Mayor of North Tyneside in May 2013. As the authority’s principal public spokesperson, her role is to give political direction to the Council and appoint the Cabinet and Deputy Mayor, which provides the executive decision-making function for the organisation. Norma, who lives in North Tyneside, has an extensive track-record in local government. She has previously represented the Riverside Ward in North Shields as Ward Councillor since 2004. During 2005-2009 she served as Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Learning. A graduate of Newcastle University she has had a 30 year career in teaching, both in primary and secondary education. This included 14 years as a head teacher and four years in an education advisory capacity, before moving into education related consultancy. As a member of the NUT she served as a school delegate, executive member and is a past President of Newcastle Association and a National representative for Primary Schools.

Cllr Miller was appointed Leader of the Council in May 2018. He was first elected to the council in 2006 to represent Washington South ward where he is also school governor.

Before becoming Leader, Cllr Miller was the Cabinet’s portfolio holder for Health, Housing and Adult Services. Cllr Miller is particularly passionate about mental health as the basis for good overall health and wellbeing and he is a Health and Mental Health Champion for the city. He is a member of City Hospitals Sunderland Foundation Trust’s Council of Governors and Chair of Age UK Sunderland. He also represents the council and city on a number of bodies and organisations including the North East Combined Authority Leadership Board and North East Local Enterprise Partnership.

As Leader, Cllr Miller’s focus is continuing to work in partnership on the city’s economic regeneration, building on progress in relation to housing and infrastructure development and skills and employment opportunities.