A Tyneside Labour Party chief delivered a rallying call to the troops today following their town hall election setback.
Nick Forbes, newly-elected chairman of Newcastle Labour Party, described the loss of five seats at this month's local elections as a wake up call from voters.
As a party moderniser, Mr Forbes, 29, has been handed a key role in helping to spearhead the battle with the Liberal Democrats.
"We are in the business of representing local communities and winning elections and this will be the focus of our work over the next few years," he said.
"The Labour Party has always been the party of local communities and campaigning groups - I will ensure that we continue to listen to what local people want from us. The election results in Newcastle were a wake up call for the party. We cannot be complacent. It's clear we can't take votes for granted anywhere.
"It would be amazing if we held all our seats bearing in mind we are half way through the Government's term of office. Our job is to ensure that local parties are fully involved in their communities and that local councillors are seen to be active and that they have the full support of their communities.
"I think we have maybe been too soft with the opposition. They had 29 proposals in their manifesto this year and we didn't challenge them as effectively as we might have done."
Mr Forbes, who represents Moorside ward in the West End, took over as chairman from Steve Cohen.
