Ben Houchen victory bucks anti-Tory trend as Labour wins three mayoral contests

The Tees Valley mayoralty was won by the Conservatives in the latest mayoral elections. However, their majority was decreased for Ben Houchen. On the other hand, the Labour party emerged as victorious in three other regions - East Midlands, North East, and North Yorkshire, which happens to be Rishi Sunak's own area.

Houchen won his re-election with a significant shift of 16.5 percentage points towards the Labour party. He secured a total of 81,930 votes (53.6%), while Labour trailed with 63,141 votes (41.3%) and the Liberal Democrats secured 7,679 votes (5%). It's worth noting that during the previous election, Houchen won an overwhelming majority of 73% of the total votes.

Houchen went against the trend of opposition towards the Conservative party and won a third term in an area that traditionally supported Labour. Labour claims that Houchen campaigned as an independent and that voters did not support the Conservative party on a national level.

After a few hours, Houchen's win was slightly overshadowed by Labour's victory in the first-ever mayoral election in York and North Yorkshire. This area includes Sunak's Richmond constituency, and Labour won with a lead of almost 15,000 votes over the Conservatives. David Skaith received 66,761 votes, making up 35.06% of the total, while Keane Duncan from the Conservative party received 51,967 votes. The Lib Dems came in third, followed by the Greens in fourth place, and two independent candidates in fifth and sixth place.

Claire Ward, the Labour representative and previous Watford MP, triumphed over the Conservative MP and leader of Nottinghamshire council, Ben Bradley, in the mayoral elections in the East Midlands with a large margin of over 50,000 votes.

Ward expressed her gratitude at being elected for the new position. She feels humbled by the trust that voters have shown in her. Moreover, this election has also signified a significant change in the Labour party's approach. They are now well-prepared and firmly committed to taking on leadership roles.

During her winning speech, she expressed that you took a chance and made the choice to remove the power of decision-making from unknown individuals in Whitehall and bring it nearer to your locality.

Ward garnered a total of 181,040 votes, while Bradley only managed to get 129,332. The third spot was taken by the Green party with 50,666 votes, which was slightly ahead of Reform UK.

According to an insider from the Labour team, the area is considered significant to the success of the general election. The source went on to suggest that the party's substantial triumph in that region indicates that they may be well on their way to securing a nationwide win.

The area contains several key places that are indicative of larger trends, as well as many electoral districts that used to support the Labour party and are located in traditionally conservative areas, such as Bolsover and Bassetlaw.

The Labour party won the North East mayoralty seat from Jamie Driscoll, an independent and former Labour mayor. Kim McGuinness took the victory with 41% of the votes, while the previous mayor only received 25%.

The local election events on Thursday included highly anticipated mayoral votes that people closely followed. Experts foresaw that the outcome in Tees Valley and the West Midlands, set to be revealed on Saturday, would shape British politics for the remaining months in 2024.

Sources from both the Labour and the Conservative parties have expressed their anticipation for Andy Street, the current Conservative incumbent, to hold onto his position as West Midlands mayor. Additionally, they anticipate that the Labour candidate Sadiq Khan may face a tougher competition than initially expected from the Conservative contestant, Susan Hall, in the London mayoral election.

In more casual language: If the Conservative party had lost in both Tees Valley and the West Midlands, it could have caused some members to rebel against their leader. But now that Houchen has won, supporters of Sunak can use this as evidence that the party can still win seats with him in charge.

Houchen did not mention the Conservatives or Sunak in his speech when accepting his victory. He expressed his deep gratitude for being re-elected for the third time in his area, considering it the ultimate honor. He even extended his thanks to all those who believed in his vision for the coming four years and acknowledged that there is still much work to be done.

The change in political support towards the Labour party in Tees Valley was quite substantial. Although it wasn't quite enough to secure a win, it was certainly sufficient for them to gain regional victories in a broader election, according to Chris McEwan - the candidate who lost. He went on to explain that in order for Labour to regain these parliamentary seats, they would require a swing of 12%. Many voters have expressed a desire for change after 14 years of Conservative leadership, and seem to acknowledge the Labour party's transformation.

McEwan mentioned that he had been in competition with an individual, who essentially stood alone. "It's obvious that I've been battling against a current officeholder, who had ample resources and attempted to position themselves as an independent, distancing themselves from Rishi Sunak."