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 authorities and combined county authorities, combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in North East England consisting of the following five Unitary authority, unitary authoriti ...

. The mayor was elected by the

supplementary vote The contingent vote is a two-stage electoral system that elects a single representative, in which the winner receives a majority of votes. It uses ranked voting. The voter ranks the candidates in order of preference, and when the votes are f ...

system. Subsequent elections were held in May 2021 and every four years after 2024.

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

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 territori ...

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 that allows for the introduction of directly elected mayors to combined authorities in England and Wales and the devolution of housing, ...

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 government in England, local authority of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, which straddles the ceremonial county, ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire in England. Since 1996 the co ...

Labour Party

Sue Jeffrey,

Redcar and Cleveland Council Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is the local authority for Redcar and Cleveland, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being ...

leader.

Liberal Democrats

Chris Foote Wood, author and former

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

district councillor, was selected to be the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

candidate after defeating Anne-Marie Curry, Liberal Democrat group leader on

Darlington Borough Council The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority area with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority; it is independent from Durham County Council. It is named after its largest ...

, 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 by ...

, 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 with borough status in County Durham, England. Hartlepool Borough Council became a unitary authority in 1996; it is independent from Durham County Council. It is named after its largest sett ...

Results

Overall

By local authority

Darlington

Hartlepool

Middlesbrough

Redcar and Cleveland

Stockton-on-Tees

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2017 Tees Valley mayoral Council elections in North Yorkshire Combined authority mayoral elections in England May 2017 in the United Kingdom 2010s in North Yorkshire