Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley; the local term for the valley is Teesdale. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
Teesside Airport railway station is on the Tees Valley line which runs between Bishop Auckland and Saltburn via Darlington in County Durham, England. The station is 5.5 miles (9 km) east of Darlington and about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Teesside International Airport, which owns the station. It is managed by Northern Trains, which also operated the limited service calling at the station prior to its temporary closure in 2022.
The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority area with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority; it is independent from Durham County Council. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Darlington, where the council is based. The borough also includes a rural area surrounding the town which contains several villages. The population of the borough at the 2021 census was 107,800, of which over 86% (93,015) lived in the built-up area of Darlington itself.
The Borough of Hartlepool is a unitary authority area with borough status in County Durham, England. Hartlepool Borough Council became a unitary authority in 1996; it is independent from Durham County Council. It is named after its largest settlement, Hartlepool, where the council is based. The borough also includes a rural area to the west of the town. The population of the borough at the 2021 census was 92,571, of which over 95% (87,995) lived in the built-up area of Hartlepool itself.
The Tees Valley Metro was a project to upgrade the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line to provide a faster and more frequent service across the North of England. In the initial phases the services would have been heavy rail mostly along existing alignments. The later phase would have introduced tram-trains to allow street running. The project was backed by all the local authorities through which the system would have run: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. Support was also forthcoming from the Department for Transport. The project was cancelled due to lack of funding, with the focus moving to the Northern Rail franchise.
The County Borough of Teesside was a county borough in the north-east of England, which existed for just six years. It was created in 1968 to cover the Teesside conurbation which had grown up around the various port and industrial towns near the mouth of the River Tees. The council was based in Middlesbrough, the area's largest town. The county borough was abolished in 1974 on the creation of the new county of Cleveland, which covered a larger area, with the county borough's territory being split between three of the four districts created in the new county.
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, which straddles the ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire in England. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It therefore provides services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, town planning, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Tees Valley Mayor since 2017.
The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in North East England consisting of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees, covering a population of approximately 700,000 people. It was proposed that a combined authority be established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. It is a strategic authority with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration including the flagship Teesside Freeport.
The 2017 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 4 May 2017. Local elections were held across Great Britain, with elections to 35 English local authorities and all councils in Scotland and Wales.
The Tees Valley Mayor is a combined authority mayor in England, first elected in May 2017. The mayor is leader of the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
The 2021 West Midlands mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of the West Midlands, on the same day as other local elections across England and Wales, including councillors in six of its seven boroughs and the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands city region. This was the second election for the post, which had its first election in 2017 due to the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. The mayor was elected using the supplementary vote system. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ben Houchen, Baron Houchen of High Leven, is a British Conservative politician and life peer. He has been Tees Valley Mayor since 2017, winning the inaugural mayoral election in the combined authority. Houchen was re-elected in 2021 and won a third term in 2024.
The 2021 West of England mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of the West of England, on the same day as other local elections across the country. It was the second election for the role. The mayor was elected by the supplementary vote system.
The 2021 Tees Valley mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the Tees Valley Mayor on the same day as other local elections across the country. The mayor was elected by the supplementary vote. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The inaugural West Yorkshire mayoral election was held on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect the Mayor of West Yorkshire. It took place simultaneously on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom, including council elections in each of the five metropolitan boroughs of West Yorkshire.
The Borough of Middlesbrough is a district in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Tees Valley region, along with the boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington. The district covers the town of Middlesbrough, Nunthorpe civil parish and Stainton and Thornton civil parish. Since its creation in 1974, it has had borough status and the governing Middlesbrough Council became a unitary authority in 1996.
A by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Hartlepool in the former county of Cleveland, England, was held on 6 May 2021. The by-election was triggered following the resignation of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Mike Hill, who resigned over allegations of sexual harassment. It was held on 6 May 2021 alongside elections to the Borough Council, Tees Valley Mayor, and Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner.
The 2022 Hartlepool Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of Hartlepool Borough Council. This was on the same day as other local elections. 13 of the 36 seats were up for election, with 1 ward electing 2 councillors.
Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC) is a publicly-owned mayoral development corporation created to fund, manage, and accelerate regeneration in Middlesbrough town centre and Middlehaven, England.
The 2024 Tees Valley mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of the Tees Valley, part of the 2024 United Kingdom local elections. The Conservative incumbent mayor and member of the House of Lords, Ben Houchen, was re-elected with 53.6% of the vote.
