Ben Houchen says new mayors 'redress power imbalance'

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has welcomed newly created roles for elected mayors in the north-east of England and North Yorkshire

The Tees Valley Mayor has said the arrival of north-east England and North Yorkshire mayors will redress a power imbalance with the North West of England.

Ben Houchen was re-elected in May and was the only Conservative to win a mayoral role.

Despite being from different political parties, Mr Houchen told BBC Radio Tees the election of Labour’s Kim McGuinness as the first North East Mayor and Labour’s David Skaith as the York and North Yorkshire Mayor would "strengthen the region’s voice".

Mr Houchen said he believed there had been a previous "power imbalance" in the North of England, "particularly with Manchester and Liverpool".

"A few months ago I was, in reality, the only mayor on the east coast, certainly in the North of England," Mr Houchen said, adding: "That created power imbalance particularly with Manchester and Liverpool, given that they are big, strong cities with very powerful and present mayors."

Conservative peer Mr Houchen's comments will certainly come as a surprise to Jamie Driscoll, who served for five years as North of Tyne Mayor from 2019.

There was, though, a clear geographical gap between the Tees Valley and Tyneside, and perhaps the ideological gap between the two mayors was just as considerable.

The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister met with English regional mayors earlier this month

Mr Houchen said he was already working with his new neighbouring mayors.

"There are things that the east coast needs, where we collectively come together and say what’s right for our side of the Pennines.

"That becomes much easier with allies sat around that table, rather than just me against the North West," he said.

"Hopefully it will re-address that balance and we can get our fair share of national projects, that over the last 10 years have been very North West focused," Mr Houchen added.

Mr Houchen said the Mayor of Greater Manchester was given the most complete set of powers of "any mayor in the country"

The last government moved hundreds of Treasury jobs to Darlington and based the UK’s largest Freeport in Redcar – so it is, perhaps, a hard sell to claim the Tees Valley has been missing out in a battle for investment.

Mr Houchen highlighted HS2, and how Manchester was the overwhelming focus of that project.

He also told BBC's Newscast that when English devolution was first introduced, Greater Manchester was given the most complete set of powers of "any mayor in the country".

He also said that the then-Chancellor George Osborne was so focused on the North West that he was not really interested in giving the Tees Valley a mayor at all, leaving it to then Stockton South MP and Northern Powerhouse Minister James Wharton to sort it out.

Kim McGuinness has been contacted for comment