Tees Valley mayor results: Labour defiant on GE chances despite defeat

Labour’s Chris McEwan has lost to Conservative mayor Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley mayoral election, but seen a significant swing towards Labour.

Sky News journalist Sam Coates called it a “massive moment” for Downing Street, potentially helping stave off a rebellion against Rishi Sunak at Westminster.

The Tories are likely to present it as a boost for the party nationally despite Houchen’s personal brand factor.

Sky News reports Ben Houchen secured 81,930 votes, with Labour’s Chris McEwan on 63,141, giving Houchen a 53.6% vote share. McEwan got 41.3%.

Despite Houchen winning the most votes in Hartlepool, the town’s council flipped to Labour after gaining eight seats from the Conservatives and independents.

A Labour source told LabourList that, while they had lost the mayoral race in Tees Valley, the swing towards Labour puts the party “on track to win every single seat in the area in a general election”. This would include Hartlepool, Darlington, Stockton South, Redcar and Simon Clarke’s constituency of Middlesborough South and Cleveland.

The source said: “The Conservatives should be extremely worried that their candidate had to run as an independent to win. If Rishi Sunak doesn’t take this result as a major wake up call he is in denial.”

See more coverage of the 2024 local elections here.

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