MIDDLESBROUGH mayor Andy Preston has said metro mayors are ‘Father Christmas leaders who hand out money’ and stated that his own role is ‘horrible’ by comparison.

Mr Preston, who was elected as an Independent in 2019, is required to work with Conservative Tees Valley metro mayor, Ben Houchen, as the Combined Authority receives funding from the Government to then invest in projects across the region.

Speaking to the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) about the metro mayor position Mr Preston said: “Very few people dare speak out about metro mayors, because they hold the key to lots of money – government money that used to go to councils – so councils are very reluctant to antagonise them.

“In truth, you get good and bad metro mayors. Across the country, they are universally popular – not because they all do a great job but because to the public, they are Father Christmas leaders who hand out money, who aren’t responsible or answerable for your potholes, refuse collection, kids school or social behaviour next door.”

Funding pots controlled by the Tees Valley mayor include the Local Growth Fund, the Transforming Cities Fund, and Devolution Deal monies – the devolution deal funding means that the Tees Valley Combined Authority receives £15m per year for 30 years from the Government.

The Tees Valley metro mayor is also able to borrow funds for projects that will stimulate growth in the earlier years of the 30-year period.

Mr Houchen was elected in 2017 with 39.5% of the vote, while Labour secured 39%.

However, his vote share increased dramatically in 2021, when he was re-elected with nearly 73% of the vote against the Labour candidate Jessie Joe Jacobs who only received 27%.

The Tees Valley mayor has gained popularity after succeeding in his pledges to stop the closure of Teesside Airport, to create the freeport in Redcar, and to launch Teesworks at the site of the former SSI steelworks.

Commenting on Mr Houchen’s performance, Mr Preston said he was pleased with the mayor’s ‘sense of optimism and ambition for the area’, before stating that he was also ‘very good at chairing meetings’.

He added that he would do ‘some things differently’ but did not provide any further detail on that.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after his initial comments, Mr Preston added: “Ben Houchen does a first-class job for Teesside – that’s why I recommended that Teessiders vote for him this May.

“With Ben as mayor, and other council leaders involved, we can look forward to seeing even more exciting developments happen across the region, creating jobs, ambition and futures for everyone.”

In response to Mr Preston’s comments to the LGC, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, said: “I’m proud of all we’ve achieved in the last four years for the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.

“From the regeneration of the former Redcar steelworks site, landing GE’s manufacturing facility creating 2000 jobs, saving our airport from closure through to upgrading our public transport and securing direct trains from Middlesbrough to London – we’re making fantastic progress and for as long as I’m Mayor I’ll do all I can to continue with the progress we’ve made to create more and better jobs for the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.

“I look forward to continuing to work with Andy Preston and other local leaders to deliver more for local people.”

Mr Preston also told the LGC that his own position, which secures him an allowance of £55,952, is a ‘horrible job’ and that the metro mayor position should be re-examined.

He added: “You’re made the figurehead for everything that happens, mainly the horrible stuff – it’s rarely about 10,000 new jobs”.

“What [metro mayors] seem to be doing visibly is handing out lots of money, and making job announcements.

“If a certain political role is universally popular with the public, then the nature of that political role needs to be examined.”

Mr Preston believes that having directly elected local mayors, like himself, is the right way forward as they are accountable.

He added: “The public, whether they love me or hate me, and sometimes it seems a bit of both, know who I am and who to blame – sometimes to my chagrin”.

 

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