Ben Houchen originally wanted to be Lord Houchen of Teesside.

However, he had to think again after he was told he wasn’t allowed. Now, he’s settling for Lord Houchen of High Leven, near to both Ingleby Barwick, where he grew up, and Yarm, where his wife Rachel grew up.

Mr Houchen was awarded a peerage in former prime minister Boris Johnson’s honours list while Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Simon Clarke was given a knighthood.

However, the nominations have proven controversial after a damning report last week found Mr Johnson deliberately misled parliament and was complicit in a “campaign of abuse” against the politicians investigating him.

Labour Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald said the appointments from a “discredited and dishonourable prime minister” were “as arrogant as it gets.” Labour Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham called for the list to be scrapped and said it was “completely wrong” to approve the honours.

However, Mr Houchen does not believe that should be the case.

He said: “Boris can make recommendations but there is a full vetting and review process that goes on…It’s basically a six to nine-month process to vet. While the report was bad for him, it doesn’t negate the recommendation of those people who were recommended.”

Mr Johnson’s attempts to get his father, Stanley Johnson, a peerage were rejected and the inclusion of four Conservative MPs, including Nadine Dorries, was vetoed by Rishi Sunak.

When asked again whether he thought the honours should stand in light of the report, Mr Houchen, who named his dog Boris, said: “I see no reason why they shouldn’t. It’s not just down to Boris it’s down to a huge process.

“It’s no word of a lie to say I was reasonably close to Boris. We helped him a huge amount in Teesside. Teesside was a bit of a poster child under Boris, as well as it is under Rishi…He said the reason I was on the list was because of my efforts towards to policy agenda for levelling up.”

When asked whether the furore around Mr Johnson had tarnished the peerage, the Tory mayor said it didn’t.

Mr Houchen has also faced criticism that he should not have been awarded because of the Teesworks inquiry. Speaking to the BBC, Newcastle Central MP Ms Onwurah questioned whether he should have been given a peerage while there is an investigation.

However, the Tory mayor said: “The only reason this investigation is happening is because I asked for it. You can talk about Lisa Nandy asking for it and Andy McDonald but the government weren’t going to give them that.

“The civil service said we have investigated this ourselves and been part of it for the last six years, there is no corruption. But because Ben has spoken to Michael Gove and said I want the investigation to clear our name, that’s the only reason the government have done it.”

Lords are not salaried, however, can they can receive a £332 per day attendance allowance, plus travel expenses. Mr Houchen would not confirm if he would be claiming the cash saying he “hasn’t thought about it”.

The Tory mayor stated that he didn’t see himself attending often and would only be in the House of Lords if there was a specific reason. He added that he is currently in London for a couple of days every two or three weeks and he didn’t see that changing with his new position.

Mr Houchen said he would be meeting with the Conservative whips in the Lords – the people who try to control when Tory peers attend and vote – to tell them that he won’t be dictated to by the whips’ office. He added: “My primary role is the one I am democratically elected to deliver and that’s the one in the Tees Valley. If they need me to go down and vote, I can if it’s really important or I think it’s the right thing to do.

“But there is little consequence to my decision not to conform to party policy. They can’t get rid of me or deselect me [as a Lord]. And they’re not going to deselect me from my role as mayor. It gives you a level of freedom to be able to represent the local area even in Parliament without having to worry about party politics.”

Mr Houchen believes the peerage will allow him to make sure Levelling Up remains on the government’s agenda. He said: “I will have to take on, and I should be taking on, responsibility for making sure that the government doesn’t forget that one of the main three reasons they were elected in 2019 was to deliver Levelling Up and be able to help people in Teesside that have been left behind for decades.”

Speaking of the advantages of the position, Mr Houchen added: “It’s an extra voice in parliament we currently don’t have. There is a power to being sat in the House of Lords that gives you access to a system that today we don’t have.

“I’m much more independent than pretty much any MP, it’s the nature of the role, we don’t have a party whip, we aren’t told what to do, we don’t have to vote in a certain way so there is a level of freedom I have to say it how I see it in the Houses of Parliament, whereas others are slightly more constrained due to party policy.”

On July 12, the Letters Patent, which are issued by King Charles to create life peerages will be sealed – marked to show royal approval – and Mr Houchen will become a Lord. However, he is not able to sit in the House of Lords until he has an introduction to the chamber on July 24.

When asked whether he was concerned, after spending years berating the Westminster bubble, that he would now be joining it, he added: “I will be an insurgent! But that’s where the democratic role that I have as mayor of Tees Valley keeps me honest and on the straight and narrow.

“Because you know, if I wander off to Westminster and go and sit in the Houses of Parliament, all day every day, all week and I’m not here, it’s going to be a short-lived role given the election next May…This is just another tool in my toolbox to help me deliver in my role as the Tees Valley Mayor.”