Lord Ben Houchen 'absolutely' willing to work with Starmer if Tories lose general election

3 May 2024, 14:07 | Updated: 3 May 2024, 15:58

Lord Ben Houchen has said he will work with Sir Keir Starmer if the Labour leader is elected prime minister.

The Tees Valley mayor was successfully re-elected in the year's election, albeit with a much reduced majority - and if the swing against the Conservatives in the region was repeated at a general election, Labour would hold the keys to Number 10.

Lord Houchen was made a peer by Boris Johnson, and has been seen as the pinnacle of the Conservatives' presence in the "Red Wall".

Local election results: Labour wins in PM's constituency

But his majority dropped substantially compared to the previous election, taking 53.6% of the vote compared to 41.3% for Labour; in the last vote in 2021 Mr Houchen won by 72.8% to 27.2% against Labour.

This swing - of 16.7% - would see Labour win all the parliamentary seats in the area.

Speaking to Sophy Ridge, Lord Houchen was asked if he would be willing to work with a Labour prime minister.

He said: "Absolutely.

"I mean, Keir Starmer's come out and said he's going to double down on devolution, which is a huge change - it's a 180 from what they did in 2019 when they were talking about abolishing mayors.

"There is now Keir Starmer saying he's going to give us more money and more powers, which gives me more autonomy to get on and do what I do best, which is deliver for local people."

Collaborative history

Lord Houchen highlighted his history of working with Labour councils in his region.

The mayor rubbished suggestions he had distanced himself from the national Conservative brand in his campaign.

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Sophy asked the mayor about his lack of a blue rosette during his victory lap.

No blue rosette

Lord Houchen said: "The honest answer is I didn't have one, and I forgot it.

"But I've got my blue socks on and my blue tie on, and we've had Rishi up during the election.

"So, you know, the idea that we are trying to pretend that I'm not Conservative - I mean, people know around here I'm a Conservative.

"But thankfully what we've seen today is they also know that I'm a Teessider and that I'll put Teesside first, I'll put local people first, and I'll do what's best for the local area."

Sunak defiant

Following the victory the prime minister visited Teesside Airport - an emblem of Lord Houchen's time in charge after he nationalised it - and said Labour could not "dislodge" the mayor despite two visits from Sir Keir, three from shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, and the opposition throwing "a lot of mud".

Rishi Sunak added: "I've got a message for the Labour Party, too, because they know that they had to win here in order to win a general election - they know that.

"They assumed that Tees Valley would just stroll back to them. But it didn't."

The 16.7% swing Labour achieved in the Tees race is higher than the 12.7% swing they need nationally to win a general election.

Labour's shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, told Sky News that Lord Houchen ran "a very strong incumbency campaign - almost as an independent, you couldn't find Conservative branding anywhere near his campaign".

He claimed voters were saying they were backing Lord Houchen in the mayoral election, but would vote Labour at the general election.

(c) Sky News 2024: Lord Ben Houchen 'absolutely' willing to work with Starmer if Tories lose general election