A tale of two battlegrounds: Tories face crunch votes in key mayoral elections
Political Correspondents Harry Horton and Shehab Khan went to Tees Valley and the West Midlands to find out whether national concerns are overriding local issues in these key races. Words by Maya Bowles, Westminster Producer
On May 2, people across England and Wales will go to the polls to vote in local elections - the biggest test for the government ahead of an expected general election this year.
People will vote to elect councillors, mayors, and police and crime commissioners, with 2,636 council seats up for grabs, along with 10 mayoral positions.
Most of these positions were last fought in 2021, when the Conservatives enjoyed a positive local election performance after the success of the vaccine rollout.
While the Tories are 20 points behind Labour in the polls nationally, two key votes on Thursday are much closer to call - they’re the Tees Valley and West Midlands mayoral elections.
If the Conservatives lose one or even both of their mayors, it could have a serious impact on Rishi Sunak’s strength as leader of the Party.
The latest polling by YouGov showed the race in the West Midlands is tight, with Andy Street for the Conservatives on 41%, and Richard Parker for Labour on 39%, while Ben Houchen is further ahead in Tees Valley on 51%, trailed by Labour’s Chris McEwan on 44%.
Mr Houchen in the Tees Valley and Mr Street in the West Midlands were both elected as mayors in 2017, becoming the faces of the government’s plans to "level up" Britain.
Known as "metro mayors", they have specific responsibilities in their areas which are separate from the council and central government, including economic development, transport, and culture and tourism.
Both Mr Houchen and Mr Street have distanced themselves from the Conservative Party in their campaigns, focussing more on their individual achievements and ambitions.
ITV News went to Tees Valley and the West Midlands to speak to the candidates and locals ahead of the crucial votes on Thursday.
Tees Valley
A good friend of Boris Johnson and champion of local industrial development, Mr Houchen was last re-elected in 2021 with a whopping 73% of the vote.
His election in 2017 marked the beginning of the difficulties that lay ahead for Labour in its so-called "red wall".
Made a Lord in 2023 through Former Prime Minister Johnson’s resignation honours list, Mr Houchen is also known as "Baron Houchen of High Leven".
He’s known locally for revitalising the struggling Teesside Airport by bringing it back under public control, but the Tees Valley Mayor has also been heavily criticised for his role in the development of the old Redcar Steelworks site, known as Teesworks.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…
The old steelworks has been transformed into a large industrial freeport where shipping is tax-free, but an independent inquiry was commissioned following claims private companies profited to the detriment of the taxpayer.
A damning independent review of the project found no evidence of corruption, but concluded there were “issues of governance and transparency that need to be addressed” in the regeneration project.
Mr Houchen resisted the characterisation of the vote in Tees Valley as a representation of the popularity of the Conservatives, telling ITV News: “This is a local election, it’s about who’s going to be the next mayor, who’s going to continue to create jobs, bring investment into our public transport system."
Yet he also rejected the idea he was separating himself from the Tory Party nationally - “I’m standing as a Conservative candidate, if I was separating myself I wouldn’t be doing that”, he said.
Many voters did tell ITV News they disliked the Tory Government, but said they would still vote for Mr Houchen, referring to him fondly as “Ben”.
“Ben seems to get a lot done - whereas the Conservative Party’s promising things, but they’re always in the pipeline”, said Malcolm Dobson, owner of Three Squares Cafe in Darlington.
Lyndsay Hogg, managing director at Hogg Logistics in Hartlepool, said that while she voted Conservative at the last general election in 2019, she’s “still undecided” about who to vote for this time around.
One thing she is decided on is voting for Mr Houchen in the mayoral election.
“I am voting for Ben because I do think he does a good job and he’s delivered on what he’s promised,” she said.
The man hoping to beat Mr Houchen is Labour councillor Chris McEwan, who insists voters want a change from the Tories: “It’s a cliche to say ‘time for change’ but the term has been used with me by local people many times”.
Despite this, he played down his prospects of victory in the mayoral race, acknowledging “there’s an incredible mountain to climb”.
The Liberal Democrats didn’t stand in Tees Valley last time, but they’re hoping to make gains on Thursday.
Simon Thorley, who runs an international language training business, said people “want a real change, not what Labour are offering, which is basically exactly the same thing as Lord Houchen.”
West Midlands
Former managing director of John Lewis, Andy Street was elected as the first mayor of the West Midlands in 2017, narrowly beating Labour.
He's managed to hold onto his post ever since, after successfully defending it at the 2021 election where he increased his margin of victory.
Thursday marks his third time running for mayor of the West Midlands, which includes Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry, and is a region boasting a mix of red and blue wall voters spanning across urban and rural areas.
In September, Mr Street made national headlines and was hailed locally when he almost quit the party over HS2. He clashed publicly with the prime minister following the announcement the government was scrapping the high-speed rail line from Birmingham to Manchester.
But many in the region are particularly concerned about the cost of living and cuts to local services, particularly in Birmingham, where its Labour-run city council effectively declared bankruptcy in September.
Anne-Marie Alder, who runs a food bank at Bells Farm Community Centre in Birmingham, says their footfall has "massively increased" recently amid the cost of living crisis and council cuts.
She believes people struggling locally will vote with their feet over the dwindling council services and questioned why more hadn't been done to save the council from financial crisis, asking: "Why's it been allowed to go on so long?"
"You only hear of Andy Street because he's here there and everywhere at the moment but what are these mayors looking at doing for our community? It's been under regeneration for 15 years and we still haven't put a brick on the floor," Ms Alder questioned.
"What's he doing for our community? Absolutely nothing."
But she doesn't place all the blame with Mr Street and pointed to failings in central government.
She doesn't know who she'll vote for but she's certain it won't be Mr Street. "I just don't think he understands the communities," she says. "Walk the walk that we have to walk. Talk to your communities."
Mr Street defended his track record, telling ITV News: "I would say there’s huge disappointment across the city about what’s happened, but I actually don’t recognise what you say that I'm personally responsible for that.
"It’s very clear the finances of Birmingham are very, very separate to the finances of the West Midlands as a whole."
Despite being a Conservative for decades, his links to the Party are nowhere to be seen on his Twitter bio which describes the West Midlands as "the best region in the world". Nor is there a mere mention of the Tories on his campaign website.
Much like Mr Houchen, the West Midlands Mayor rejected speculation that he's distancing himself from the Conservative Party and that his mayoral campaigning has always been centred around his personal brand.
"If you look at how I conducted myself seven years ago, the literature was green, it was about ‘Brand Andy’," he insists. "The conservative brand was quite small, because this is about a mayoral job, it’s one person, one role."
When asked whether people in the West Midlands could trust a Labour mayor after what happened with Birmingham Council, Labour's candidate Richard Parker said: "Mistakes have been made in Birmingham, there's no doubt about that.
"The Party replaced the previous leader and deputy leader, they're starting to turn things round. There are some issues that remain unresolved, and we know that. But the reality is the government have taken a billion pounds out of Birmingham over the last 10 years."
A major issue for more than half a million Muslims who live in the West Midlands and have traditionally voted Labour, is the conflict in Gaza.
Many are frustrated with what they see as Labour's delay in calling for an immediate ceasefire in the region.
Community leader Nasir Rafiq said he feels Labour are taking the Muslim vote for granted: "When people in Gaza are dying and you see these social media posts, they look like us, they talk like us, they dress like us, and if their lives don't matter, do our votes matter anymore either?"
Independent candidate Akhmed Yakoob is running on a Gaza ticket, and polling above the Liberal Democrats.
The candidates running in both mayoral elections in alphabetical order:
Tees Valley:
Ben Houchen, Conservative Party
Chris McEwan, Labour Party
Simon Thorley, Liberal Democrat Party
West Midlands:
Siobhan Harper-Nunes, Green Party
Richard Parker, Labour Party
Andy Street, Conservative Party
Sunny Virk, Liberal Democrat Party
Elaine Williams, Reform UK
Akhmed Yakoob, Independent
Have you heard our podcast Talking Politics? Every week Tom, Robert and Anushka dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda…