Ben Houchen denied that he had shied away from campaigning as a Conservative or mentioning Rishi Sunak in his campaign literature during the Tees Valley mayoral contest.

He told Sky News: “We absolutely don’t shy away from that at all, and Rishi’s been up during the campaign and we have always said Rishi’s been a great friend to the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.”

He added that the Prime Minister had been “a huge champion for this area”.

Houchen spoke as he won the Tees Valley Mayoral Election and secured a third term in the post.

The Conservatives today (May 3) triumphed over Labour opponent Chris McEwan across the Tees Valley albeit with a reduced majority from 2021.

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Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said the local election results had been “disappointing” but there were still many results to be announced.

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Speaking at a military base in North Yorkshire, he told broadcasters: “Obviously it’s disappointing to lose good, hard-working Conservative councillors and I’m grateful to them for all their service in local government, keeping council tax low and delivering services for local people.

“But we have still got lots of results to come as well, and there are also things that I would point to, Harlow for example where Keir Starmer held a rally just on Wednesday saying that was a place that he had to win to be on track to win a general election.

“That hasn’t happened, and indeed we are still waiting for the results in the Tees Valley mayoralty just near here which is obviously a very important test as well.”