They have also benefited from picking up disaffected Labour voters and Tories who know they own people have no chance of winning, as well as they own supporters. Lib Dems have even harboured thoughts of supplanting Labour as the main party in the region.

But that Lib Dem coalition could fall apart if the public is not persuaded by the need for cuts, and see the North East disproportionately hit.

With nearly 500,000 public sector jobs set to go, that will cause immense worry for the one in three workers are employed by the public sector in the region. It also risks the economy with less money in people's back pockets.

The fact the Lib Dems are tied to the Tories is another issue, not least because David Cameron highlighted the North East as being ripe for cuts before the election. He declared the region's public sector was too big.

And while aides insisted he wanted to build the private sector, his comments opened him up to attack from his political opponents.

If the cuts go down badly, they risk undermining the PM's claims to be governing in the national interest and that "we are in all together". It will make it much tougher for the Tories to inch their way back politically in the region.

New Labour leader Ed Miliband may hope to pick up support in the fallout from the massive cuts. But the public is not stupid, voters broadly recognise need to spend within our limits largely resonating with the country.

He has hinted at a leftward tack, with taxes playing a bigger role in cutting the deficit rather than spending cuts.

But as the PM has pointed out, when Mr Miliband was campaigning to be Labour leader he stressed the need for a credible deficit reduction plan. He will face constant calls to set his proposals out.

And while he may be willing to play a longer game, if the cuts go badly wrong the possibility of the Lib Dem Tory coalition falling apart in Westminster increases. He must get ready to face the country in a possible general election.