Who's who

Biography
Councillor Paul Watson was elected as Chair of the Association of North East Councils on 27 October 2009.

He has been Leader of Sunderland City Council since May 2008, after previously serving as Deputy Leader from May 2006. Prior to that, he was Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Community Cohesion.
Councillor Watson was born in, and has lived all his life in Sunderland.  After serving his time as an apprentice shipwright at Sunderland Shipbuilders, he was made redundant in 1981 and has been self-employed ever since.
Married to Susan, Councillor Watson studied law at Teesside University gaining an Honours Degree in 1998.

He represents the Pallion Ward.

Biography
Mayor Arkley was elected as Vice Chair of the Association of North East Councils on 1 July 2011.

Prior to becoming Elected Mayor of North Tyneside in June 2009, Linda also served as Elected Mayor from 2003 to 2005. She has been an elected member of North Tyneside council since 1991 and has lived in North Tyneside for the past 25 years.

Linda has worked in the health service for over 30 years. She is qualified as a state enrolled nurse, state registered nurse, has 2 BSC (Honours) degrees in Health Studies and Community Health, and a post graduate certificate in Child Protection.

Her experience working in the hospital setting, and then in primary care working as a Health Visitor in many areas across North Tyneside, has enabled her to assess the needs of the residents of the borough.

As Elected Mayor Linda has stabilised the Council’s Budget in the face of considerable financial pressures, maintaining frontline services. She has led on a range of initiatives to regenerate North Tyneside including the development of plans to regenerate Whitley Bay’s Spanish City including the historic dome. She has overseen the establishment of the Riverside Business Forum which she chairs, in order to drive forward the development of the North Bank of the Tyne to make it one of the top locations in the UK for off-shore wind manufacturing.

Furthermore, Linda established the North Tyneside Business Forum to establish a stronger dialogue with the business community and has created a Big Society Investment fund of £100,000 to help build capacity for local people to take responsibility for local issues

Biography
Councillor Simon Henig was elected as Vice Chair of the Association of North East Councils on 27 October 2009.

Councillor Henig was appointed Leader of Durham County Council in May 2008 with the challenging task of leading the Council into the new era of Unitary Government. With the establishment of the new Council on 1 April 2009, the demanding job continues to fully integrate local government services in County Durham for the benefit of all who live, work and visit the area.

Councillor Henig is Chair of the new Co Durham Partnership Board which strategically plans and leads the action needed to tackle critical issues facing the County’s future so that it can fulfil its potential both regionally and nationally. This also links to the newly created Area Action Partnerships to ensure priorities are decided and delivered locally.

He is a member of Labour’s National Policy Forum and Chair of the Regional Board.

As former Deputy Leader at Chester-le-Street Councillor Henig played a key role in improving the Council from a ‘poor’ to a ‘good’ rating within three years, the fastest recovery of any council in the UK.

He is a Principal Lecturer in Politics at the University of Sunderland, an Oxford-educated academic and author of several political books.

Married with two young children Councillor Henig lives in Chester-le-Street and represents the West Central electoral division. He has many interests and enjoys travel, football and cricket.

Biography
Councillor Jeff Reid was elected as Vice Chair of the Association of North East Councils on 1 July 2011.

His 26 years in local politics include being a Member of Blyth Valley Borough Council for 14 years, eight of which he served as Leader of the Opposition. When the council was disbanded at the end of March 2009, as part of the Local Government Review, Councillor Reid was made Honorary Freeman of the Borough. He has been a Parliamentary Candidate for Blyth Valley three times.

On 1 May 2008 Councillor Reid was elected as Leader of Northumberland County Council.

Councillor Reid serves as a member on various Regional Bodies and the Advisory Board for the Centre of Public Scrutiny.