The Tory mayor of Tees Valley has clung on – days after taking a brutal swipe at Rishi Sunak.
Ben Houchen emerged victorious with a reduced majority, having picked up a massive 72% of the vote in 2021. Although the Tories are likely to spin it as a victory for Mr Sunak, Lord Houchen himself said that wasn’t the case.
Conceding defeat, a Labour source said the switch away from Lord Houchen was greater than the 12% swing they would need to sweep the Tees Valley constituencies in a general election.
No10 are hopeful that the victory will help stave off Mr Sunak’s critics and reduce the risk of a leadership contest. But on the eve of the vote Lord Houchen suggested that it’s unlikely to translate to the general election.
He told The Independent on Wednesday: “There are lots of people who will come up to me and speak to me that say that they’re going to vote for me, but they probably won’t be voting for the Conservative Party in the general election.”
But he said the predicted collapse of his support was a reflection of how the Government is faring. “[The problem] is purely national politics, and that leads to a change of mood in the country,” he said.
He told Sky News shortly before the result was confirmed: “It’s for commentators and others to decide whether it’s applicable to the national picture. That’s not my job.” Lord Houchen said it “doesn’t matter to me who the Prime Minister is” as he acknowledged there may be a change of Government later this year.
The Tees Valley result as well as the West Midlands mayoral election are seen as key to Mr Sunak. No10 hopes that if the party can win one or both, it could ease the growing pressure on the PM. Voters will find out tomorrow if Tory Andy Street holds on in the West Midlands.
But polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice said the Conservative Party was emphasising the two contests “because they think they might manage to win the contest and therefore they’ll be able to cover whatever disasters happen elsewhere”. “Because of the personal votes of these two, (these contests are) going to be the least reliable indicator,” he said.
Former Tory cabinet member Dominic Grieve said: “It’s a great credit to Ben Houchen and his style of mayoralty that he has survived what is a very considerable swing against the Conservative Party.”