Labour candidate is Houchen’s biggest threat in Tees Valley

VOTERS take to the polls on Thursday in the Tees Valley to select their mayor, choosing between incumbent Conservative Ben Houchen, Labour’s Chris McEwan, and Liberal Democrat Simon Thorley. Recent polling saw the candidates at 47, 47 and 6 per cent, respectively.

Lord Houchen is seeking a third term in the office he’s held since its establishment in 2017, overseeing the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), campaigning largely on his track record of delivery.

Mr McEwan has proposed taking public control of the region’s buses, similar to Labour mayors Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and Tracy Brabin in West Yorkshire.

Meanwhile a key pledge of Mr Thorley is to impose a tax on the private partners at Teesworks to “recover profits” handed to them.

If re-elected, the incumbent mayor has pledged to build a new general hospital, although the Government has said he did not have the powers to do so.

He told The Yorkshire Post: “We have all the powers I need. People said I didn't have any control over aviation, or the freeport or bringing the Treasury to Darlington – but we did it.”

Mr McEwan, deputy leader of

Darlington Council, held his launch event at Middlesbrough FC’s Riverside Stadium. The club’s owner, Steve Gibson, a former ally of Lord Houchen’s, announced his support for Mr McEwan this week, while strongly criticising Lord Houchen and the agreement which saw 90 per cent of the Teesworks publicprivate joint venture handed over to private interests.

Among Mr McEwan’s key pledges are to re-introduce free parking in town centres after funding to subsidise it was withdrawn by TVCA a year ago.

Mr Thorley, a Darlington entrepreneur who owns an international language training business, has said he will impose a Community Infrastructure Levy on future sales of land to the Teesworks partners in order to restore funds to the public sector following the controversial share transfer.

He also pledged an annual £25m Early Years Support fund to help provide baby boxes to new parents and subsidise free school meals as well as using the mayor’s education budget to provide Individual Learning Grants which he says will allow “any local resident to apply for financial support to study a course which they want to study, when they want to study it.”