The inaugural Tees Valley mayoral election was held on 4 May 2017 to elect the mayor of the

Tees Valley Combined Authority The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in England consisting of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees ...

. The mayor was elected by the supplementary vote system. Subsequent elections will be held in May 2021 and every four years after 2024.

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

was considered a Labour stronghold and prior to the election, the Labour candidate Sue Jeffrey was considered the overwhelming favourite. The eventual victory of the Conservative candidate Ben Houchen was reported as a shock and a poor result for Labour following their losses in the local elections that same day.

Background

Following a

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

deal between the UK government and the

(TVCA), it was agreed to introduce a directly-elected mayor for the combined authority, with an initial election to be held in May 2017. The

Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 (c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom designed to introduce directly elected mayors to combined local authorities in England and Wales and to devolve housing, transport, pla ...

required a directly-elected metro mayor for combined authorities to receive additional powers from central government.

Candidates

Conservative Party

Ben Houchen, Conservative group leader on

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government servi ...

Labour Party

Sue Jeffrey,

Redcar and Cleveland Council Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is the local authority of Redcar and Cleveland. It is a unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional fun ...

leader.

Liberal Democrats

Chris Foote Wood Chris Foote Wood (born Christopher Wood, 15 December 1940) is an English politician and author. He is the brother of the late comedian and actress Victoria Wood. Education and early career Foote Wood was born in Prestbury, Cheshire, and is ...

, author and former

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

district councillor, was selected to be the Liberal Democrat candidate after defeating Anne-Marie Curry, Liberal Democrat group leader on

Darlington Borough Council The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority and borough in County Durham, Northern England. The borough is named after the town of Darlington, and in 2011 had a population of 106,000. It is in the Tees Valley mayoralty. The borough bord ...

, in a ballot of party members.

North East Party

John Tait, former Parliamentary candidate in

Stockton North Stockton North is a constituency covering the town of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham and other nearby settlements in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees located north of the River Tees, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament ...

, withdrew from the race after failing to raise the required £5,000 deposit.

UK Independence

John Tennant, UKIP group leader on

Hartlepool Borough Council The Borough of Hartlepool is a unitary authority area in ceremonial County Durham, England. The borough's largest town is Hartlepool. It borders the County Durham district as well as the boroughs of Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees ...

Results

Overall

By local authority

Darlington

Hartlepool

Middlesbrough

Redcar and Cleveland

Stockton-on-Tees

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2017 2017 English local elections Council elections in North Yorkshire Mayoral elections in England May 2017 events in the United Kingdom 2010s in North Yorkshire