Conservative Ben Houchen holds on as mayor in key Tees Valley race

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The mayoralty of Tees Valley has been retained by Conservative Lord Ben Houchen, which may be perceived as a positive outcome for the prime minister amidst a disappointing series of local election results.

Following his win on Friday's election, Houchen secured his third consecutive term as mayor of the north-east region. Houchen had been serving as mayor since 2017 and emerged victorious against his Labour opponent, Chris McEwan, obtaining approximately 54% of the total vote.

Houchen expressed his deep humility while addressing the audience at the counting event in Stockton-on-Tees.

He stated that being elected for a third term in his home community is a huge honor. He also mentioned that he had conducted a positive campaign and had a clear plan for the development of the region.

Houchen commented on the development of the Tees Valley during his time in office, acknowledging that it still has some ways to go but highlighting the progress that has been made.

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Houchen's lead was greatly reduced compared to his previous win in 2021, where he won with an overwhelming 73 percent of the votes.

Despite winning by a smaller margin, his triumph was a relief to the Conservative party at the national level. This is because early results from the local elections indicate that the Tories have suffered significant losses in councils throughout the country.

On Thursday evening, Labour secured an easy victory in the Blackpool South constituency by-election, defeating the Conservative party.

If Labour had lost in the Tees Valley, it would have added more stress on Sunak from Conservative Members of Parliament who sit in the backbenches.

According to McEwan, he managed to obtain a swing of 17 percent, which he believes is surpassing the needed percentage for the opposing party to attain a majority in a general election across the country.

"I lost the election because I was competing against an established candidate," McEwan explained. "Additionally, my opponent was presenting himself as a non-partisan candidate."

Ever since Houchen surprisingly won the Tees Valley mayoralty back in 2017, he has managed to create a unique image separate from the larger Conservative party.

During this year's election, Houchen persisted in expressing his beliefs, despite the Conservative party's unpopularity across the country. During the vote count on Friday, Houchen suggested that he had accidentally left his conservative badge behind and denied any attempt to conceal his political affiliation.

The locals in this area are aware that I hold Conservative views, but I'm grateful that today they also recognize me as a resident of Teesside. It's my goal to prioritize the needs of Teesside and its people, and to make decisions that benefit the community.

During Houchen's seven-year tenure, there has been a noticeable amount of government interference and financial assistance, which goes against the current Conservative ideals advocated by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

His choice to bring the airport under government ownership in 2019 was highly favored and still is, even though there have been multiple instances where taxpayers had to contribute to the financial support of the airport.

Nevertheless, concerns regarding the financial honesty of the Teesworks steel location surfaced, which is an extensive revitalization initiative that the mayor is overseeing and was vehemently scrutinized by an autonomous report in January. This has had a negative impact on his campaign.

An outspoken and grassroots movement online, opposing Houchen, began as a consequence. Advertisements endorsing him also faced vandalism, indicating a divisive political atmosphere within the community.

During the final week of the campaign, Steve Gibson, who owns Middlesbrough Football Club, and Paul Booth, the former chair of SABIC UK, spoke out against Mayor Houchen. Both businessmen were involved in creating Teesworks before Houchen's initial election.

Labour had considered winning in the Tees Valley to be a challenging goal, despite the disagreement surrounding the matter.

Although a few people in the party system of the locality may believe that the Labour headquarters did not approach the race with enough seriousness, McEwan has claimed that there was an exceptional collective effort made at both the regional and national levels.