Labour heading in the right direction to oust Tory poster boy mayor Ben Houchen in blow for Sunak
Labour are heading in the right direction to oust the Tories’ purple wall poster boy mayor in a shock blow for Rishi Sunak.
A brand new ballot discovered simply 19% of voters in Tees Valley deliberate to vote for incumbent Ben Houchen – certainly one of solely two metro mayors the get together has.
It’s a staggering collapse in assist for the Tory peer, who received re-election in 2021 with 72.8% of the vote.
The new ballot, carried out by Censuswide for communications company Yasper, discovered Labour ’s candidate Chris McEwen was heading in the right direction to win with 45% of the vote.
Baron Houchen was put in within the House of Lords by Boris Johnson in his resignation honours checklist.
He’s searching for a 3rd time period as mayor and has been hailed by Conservative ministers as a mannequin for metro mayors and an instance of what the get together can obtain in devolved authorities.
But an investigation into his flagship Teesworks redevelopment scheme discovered governance failings and an absence of transparency, though it uncovered no proof to assist claims of corruption.
A defeat for Lord Houchen could be a big reversal after he secured re-election in 2021 with virtually 73% of the vote.
The similar ballot discovered Labour was additionally resulting from retain the West Yorkshire mayoralty, regardless of solely 31% considering incumbent Tracy Brabin had been efficient and 16% saying she had delivered on her 2021 election pledges.
Some 41% mentioned they might nonetheless vote for Ms Brabin, who’s coming to the top of her first time period, in opposition to simply 12% saying they might vote for the Conservative candidate, Arnold Craven.
Julian Pearce, managing director at Yasper, mentioned: “National politicians of various colours continue to tell us that levelling up is a key policy and that devolution is working. In this poll, we look at public perception of whether that is the case.
“Overall, now we have seen a excessive diploma of scepticism within the function and it is telling that almost all of individuals cannot establish their mayor’s title, even when given a shortlist of choices.
“This trend is particularly prevalent among younger voters, with just 9% of under-24s in West Yorkshire correctly identifying that their mayor was Tracy Brabin, and 11% of the same demographic correctly selecting Ben Houchen as Tees Valley mayor.
“This will not be a definitive verdict on whether or not levelling up, devolution or, certainly, mayors, are working. But it’s a salient reminder as we strategy some key elections that public notion must be a key consideration for politicians on all sides.”
Only 33% of voters in Tees Valley could identify Lord Houchen as their mayor, while just 28% in West Yorkshire could name Ms Brabin.
In Tees Valley, the poll found 7% of voters said they would support a Reform UK candidate, more than backed the Liberal Democrats or Greens, although 13% said they were undecided.
In West Yorkshire, 8% said they would back the Greens, 7% supported Reform and 6% would vote for the Liberal Democrats, with 18% still to make up their minds.
The poll was carried out during February and surveyed 1,000 voters in Tees Valley and 1,000 in West Yorkshire.
May 2 will also see elections for mayors in London, Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands.
Voters in the East Midlands, the North East and York and North Yorkshire will go to the polls to elect their own regional mayors for the first time.
