Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen on what he hopes to achieve for region as he is selected by Conservatives to stand for re-election in 2024

Mayor Houchen, who was first elected in 2017 as the first ever Tees Valley Mayor, was unanimously chosen by the Tees Valley Conservatives as the party’s candidate for the next mayoral election in May 2024.

He said: “We are on the cusp of something very, very special here in Teesside and I intend to see it through to the very end.

“Since the day I was elected in 2017 on the promise to buy back our airport I have worked night and day to get things done and make things happen.

“I promised to buy the airport – I delivered. I promised to revive our steelworks – I delivered. And I promised to put the Tees Valley on the map – I delivered.

"There’s still a huge amount of work that we need to do across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool, but I have a record of delivery and I have a promise to do much more.”

Mayor Houchen has been at the forefront of work to transform the former SSI steelworks site at Redcar into the 4,500 acre Teesworks industrial zone which includes the UK’s largest freeport.

In Hartlepool, he allocated £12million to an upgrade of the town’s railway station which includes bringing its second platform back into use.

And he has spearheaded plans for a new Hartlepool Mayoral Development Corporation to support the regeneration of key parts of town.

Mayor Houchen was re-elected in the last mayoral election in 2021 with 73% of the vote.