Ben Houchen has won a third term as Tees Valley Mayor despite a swing in the vote to Labour and bad results in the local elections nationally for the Conservatives.
At 12.20pm the results from Stockton were announced and Lord Houchen was declared the winner of the contest with 54 per cent of the votes.
His competitors Chris McEwan for Labour and Simon Thorley for the Liberal Democrats received 41 per cent and five per cent respectively.
Lord Houchen emphasised how thankful he was to everybody who voted for him in his victory speech and told those who didn't that he hoped by working hard he could win the votes of those who didn't at the next election.
He said: "I’m delighted, thank you for giving me your backing. Thank you for backing me over the last seven years and thank you for backing my plan for the next four years.
"We have run a very positive campaign, we have tried to show a vision for what we want for our area. We wanted to show how we can change our region for the better.
"There is still a long way to go. For as long as I am mayor I will continue to work as hard as I possibly can for everybody.
"For those of you who didn’t vote for me that I absolutely fine, I will work doubly hard to make sure that I secure your vote in four years time.
"Let’s keep on going, let’s keep pushing, let’s deliver more jobs, more investment. Again I just want to thank everybody."
Lord Houchen did have a celebration with the Prime Minister at Teesside Airport after the result, but earlier in the day he did not rule out working with a Labour government following a general election.
He told Sky News: "If there's a change of government I'll work with anyone."
Here is a breakdown of the Tees Valley mayoral election:
Darlington
Ben Houchen - 14,233
Chris McEwan - 10,014
Simon Thorley - 1,849
Stockton
Ben Houchen - 28,351
Chris McEwan - 19,631
Simon Thorley - 1,829
Redcar and Cleveland
Ben Houchen - 15,987
Chris McEwan - 12,015
Simon Thorley - 1,639
Hartlepool
Ben Houchen - 10,074
Chris McEwan - 8,732
Simon Thorley - 972
Middlesbrough
Ben Houchen - 13,285
Chris McEwan - 12,749
Simon Thorley - 1,390
Following the result Chris McEwan explained that he thought Lord Houchen was very well resourced and had the benefit of being the incumbent.
He was defiant when asked if Labour could win parliamentary seats in Teesside that they had lost in 2019.
Mr McEwan said: "I have been fighting an incumbent who has been well resourced and who has distanced himself from Rishi Sunak.
"The issues about being more open and transparent came up time and time again on the doorstep.
"I suspect they will continue to turn up on the doorstep when we are campaigning in a general election.
"I back Keir Starmer’s call to have a general election. Enthusiasm for a general election was also mentioned many times on the doorstep.
"Today we saw a 17 per cent swing and it would take a 12 per cent swing to bring back parliamentary seats in the area to Labour.
"I’m confident that with the team locally and the support nationally we can do it.
"There is a recognition that the Labour party has changed and that this is a time for change after 14 years of Conservative government."
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Simon Thorley explained that he would use his experience from the mayoral campaign to help when running to become Darlington MP at the upcoming general election.
Across the country the Conservatives have suffered heavy losses in council elections.
Labour won both the mayoral elections in the North East and York and North Yorkshire.
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