In attendance was Jamie Driscoll, the current metro mayor of the North of Tyne authority who is standing as an Independent, Kim McGuinness, the current Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Northumbria who is standing as the Labour candidate, Andrew Gray, the Green Party candidate, Aiden King, standing for the Liberal Democrats, and Conservative candidate Guy Renner-Thompson. Absent was Reform's Paul Donaghy. The event was chaired by Liv Bird, Education Officer at Northumbria SU.
Opening remarks from all candidates emphasised the need to attract industries to the North East to create jobs, increase wealth, and incentivise graduates to stay in the North-East post-graduation to build a life there. Mr Renner-Thompson defined his goals in five words: "Make the North East richer". As an Independent candidate, Mr Driscoll emphasised that party politics should not matter when voting for Mayor: "Whatever your politics, it is time to put the North East first".
Introduced by Newcastle University SU's president Shah Yaseen Ali and Durham's undergraduate academic officer William Brown, the hustings began with the manifesto's proposals to support student housing. This includes standardising licensing, adopting Renters' Reform Bill guidance, supporting alternative models of housing (such as housing co-operatives), building more student accommodation/housing, lobbying the government for stricter regulations on short-term rentals, and a 'no guarantor' option for student housing. All present candidates expressed support for licensing proposals and the 'Rate Your Landlord' scheme. A common theme amongst the candidates was a desire to build more housing for families, along with purpose-built student accommodation. Mr Driscoll and Mr Renner-Thompson suggested they would build on brownfield and greenfield sites, and Mr Gray aims to improve home insulation and retrofit houses. Mrs McGuinness promised to work with the students' unions on student loan reform to take to Parliament, as student loans haven't risen with inflation - leaving students with just £24 per year when given the average loan and paying average rent.
A later audience question pertained to landlords taking advantage of students with charges and end-of-tenancy bills. Mr Gray emphasised raising awareness and advocating for students, and Mrs McGuinness placed importance on enforcement and setting standards. Mr Renner-Thompson proposed a good letting agents charter where universities can blacklist poor letting agents. Mr Driscoll pledged to allocate case workers to support students in taking their landlords to small claims court.
The transport segment was introduced by Sunderland's president of activities, Prince Ikechi, with core proposals on lower fares, integrated tickets across trains, buses and the Metro, and removing student status defined by age. Discussion around transport was continued through a submitted student question about commuting to university. Transport needs to be "affordable, reliable and safe" said Mrs McGuinness who has run the 'It All Adds Up' campaign as PCC. The candidates for Liberal Democrats, Labour and Conservatives all promised expansions of the Metro, with the Liberal Democrat candidate suggesting expansion between Pelaw and South Hylton, and the Conservative candidate suggesting expansion via Washington.
Across the candidates, a consensus was reached on the need for integrated tickets across different forms of transport, but both the Conservative and Green candidates couldn't promise free student travel. Variations of free or discounted travel were discussed with under-18s or under-19s confirmed across the board to qualify for free travel. All candidates, except Mr Renner-Thompson, were willing to bring the buses under public control so that routes would be driven by the people's needs - not profit. Road improvements, such as remodelling junctions so buses move faster, were proposed by Mr Driscoll, and Mr King proposed working with venues so that public transport can meet demand after events or concerts. Some candidates also suggested being rewarded for frequently using public transport, so that patrons can eventually receive free travel - with Jamie Driscoll suggesting an annual spending cap and Andrew Gray suggesting a daily cap. Both Mr Driscoll and Mrs McGuinness proposed a bus network modelled after Manchester's Bee Network, with Mrs McGuinness proposing it be named the "Angel Network".
The final area of the manifesto pertains to cost-of-living, which was introduced by Northumbria SU's president, Nerius Shah. Proposals focused on support for food banks, university food pantries and the creation of 'warm spaces'. The approach to tackling the cost of living for Mr King is to create economic growth in the region by making the North East an energy centre (specifically wind and nuclear), rivalling it's history as a coal powerhouse, by attracting industries such as Rolls-Royce in Sunderland. Mr Gray seeks to not only improve home insulation but also work with further education colleges to provide warm spaces for students. Mrs McGuinness believes that living wage should not be age-determinant, instead being lowered to all over 18s, and wants to invest in creating more community centres. Mr Renner-Thompson believes that the way out of poverty is higher wages, therefore seeks to attract more industries to the North East and develop a 'Community Chest Fund' for local charities to reach into. He also addressed that maintenance loans have failed to rise with inflation, though his plan-of-action seemed unclear. Mr Driscoll seeks to combat the cost-of-living crisis through free public transport, creating more opportunities for students to earn in areas they want to pursue a career in and to create places to go where you aren't obliged to spend money as a form of warm spaces. He believes that the "best investment a country can make is the education of its people".
When the floor was opened up to audience questions, the candidates were asked about arrests, often of people of colour, at pro-Palestine marches and the presence of Rafael, a defence company located in the North East with ties to Israel. Four of the candidates spoke about the current situation in Palestine and the ongoing investigation by the International Courts of Justice (ICJ) into war crimes and a plausible genocide within the region. They affirmed the right to peaceful protest and the Green candidate promised to join the Cities for Peace initiative. As current PCC, Kim McGuinness has seen an increase in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes across the region, and police are looking into the arrests at protests. Mr Driscoll stated that he has joined some of the marches in solidarity with Palestine. Conservative candidate Guy Renner-Thompson told the audience that his views on Israel and Palestine may differ from both the audience member and other candidates, labelling the discussion "sixth-form politics" and not wanting to discuss the subject at the event as he felt it was not the place to do so and that it would have little impact on Israel's decisions.