The first candidate hoping to oust Ben Houchen as Tees Valley Mayor has launched their campaign.

Luke Henman has become the first wannabe candidate for Labour to throw his name into the hat ahead of the election next May.

He is hoping to be chosen as the party’s candidate to take on Tory mayor Ben Houchen on May 2, 2024 and become the first Labour mayor for Tees Valley.

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Explaining his decision to stand, Henman said on his website: “Our area still has so much unused talent. Under 13 years of the Tories, we have seen our area held back. We need a mayor who is going to deliver a future our area can be proud of.

“I have a plan, one which focuses on the barriers to people using all of their talent. Our river and our people-powered the industrial revolution. We need to take our rightful place as a world leader in creating green jobs.

“I represent workers every day who are trapped in low paid jobs with little access to development and where their bosses hold all the cards. They badly need Labour’s plan to expand employment rights, prioritise insourcing and strengthen our trade unions to end poverty pay. As Mayor, I’ll play my part in making sure we get the decent, well-paid jobs our people deserve.

“Our so-called public transport system makes huge profits for private companies but deliver terrible services to local people -we have lost 50% of our bus routes in the North East since 2010. As Mayor I will do what Labour mayor’s across the country have done – drawing up a proper plan for taking back control of our buses.

“Too many local people miss out on new jobs being created because we haven’t properly invested in skills and education. I will make sure training, retraining and apprenticeships are given the focus they deserve.

“We know it is our Labour values - fairness, solidarity and public service - that hold the future the Tees Valley deserves. I’m determined to deliver.”

His campaign launch was backed on X, formerly Twitter, by Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham and North East Mayoral candidate Kim McGuinness.

Ben Houchen was elected in the first Tees Valley mayoral contest back in May 2017, and re-elected with a landslide in May 2021.

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Back in March Houchen was reselected as the Conservative candidate, saying he was “delighted” to be standing again.

That was before he was given a place in the House of Lords by Boris Johnson in the former PM’s resignation honours list, but Houchen insisted he still plans to continue his job as mayor despite now sitting in the Lords.

In June he said: “I also want to take this opportunity to reaffirm my commitment to my job as Mayor. I have had the honour of representing my home for the past six years and I feel an enormous responsibility to deliver for this area and I will continue to do this for years to come as Tees Valley Mayor.”