´óÏó´«Ã½

Our region's first party leader visit of the campaign proper, and in a way it wasn't surprising it was the Liberal Democrats' Nick Clegg.

his fourth trip to the North East in two months.

He's been concentrating on and Tyneside as that's where the party hopes to win seats from Labour.

There was some confusion though .

But in fact he didn't set foot on that side of the Tyne as he was hosting a Question and Answer session at the Sage Gateshead.

There was a touch of shamefacedness (is that a word?) amongst his staff given local sensitivities.

But when it came to the event they made the best of it by announcing his appearance in "NewcastleGateshead".

Sadly, I couldn't stay to hear voters grill him as I had to get back to the office to make sure his appearance made it to air on the Look North Saturday bulletin.

Looking at the coverage by my ´óÏó´«Ã½ colleagues though, he faced questions on coalitions, immigration, and his attitude to the monarchy.

I did watch the online coverage during one sticky moment when a member of the audience raised the issue of Greg Stone - their former Newcastle East candidate.

Mr Stone stood down after some ill-advised comments on the web. Nick Clegg said he'd paid the price by resigning as a candidate and he'd accepted his apology, and said that was that.

Proof I suppose the audience wasn't vetted.

I'm sure Nick Clegg will be back in the North East before the end of the campaign (indeed his staff intimated as much), and I'd expect him to front up in Tim Farron's highly marginal constituency before too long.

But what of the other party leaders?

Up to Saturday, the Conservatives have had Shadow Cabinet members in the region every day - sometimes more than one.

But as yet David Cameron hasn't arrived, but I understand there could be a couple of visits before the end of the campaign.

No sign of Gordon Brown yet either. But I did catch up with David Miliband in South Shields on Friday.

The Foreign Secretary was the latest Labour minister to campaigning in the region, helping out in Tynemouth and Stockton South this weekend.

He insists though we will also see the PM in the region before the end of the campaign.

To be fair, Cameron and Brown are probably fighting on more fronts than Clegg, but the Lib Dem leader's visits do show that they see the region as important because of the potential gains it offers them.

How much difference leaders' visits make is a moot point. At the very least I suppose they rally the faithful, and as amply demonstrated by this blog, they also generate vital publicity.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?