Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It is in Teesdale with a town centre on a small meander of the River Tees. To the south-east, it extends to the River Leven, to the south it extends into the Kirklevington.
The Tees Valley is a devolved region in Northern 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.
The Borough of Darlington is a local government district with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority, with both district-level and county-level functions; 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 local government district with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1996 Hartlepool Borough Council has been a unitary authority, which gives it both district-level and county-level functions; it is independent of 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, the authorities are: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-On-Tees. Support was also forthcoming from the Department for Transport. The project has been cancelled due to lack of funding. Focus is now on Northern Rail franchise. Of the original "Tees Valley Metro" project, only the construction of a new station at James Cook University Hospital has come to fruition.
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, providing both district-level and county-level services. 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.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is the local authority for Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 1996 it has been a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The council was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh Borough Council and was a district-level authority until 1996 when it was renamed and became a unitary authority, taking over county-level functions from the abolished Cleveland County Council. The council is based at the Civic Centre in Redcar.
The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in 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 Mayor of the Tees Valley is a directly elected metro 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 who was elected as Tees Valley Mayor in May 2017 after winning the 2017 mayoral election, defeating Labour candidate Sue Jeffrey by 2.2 per cent in the second round. Houchen was re-elected in 2021, again defeating a Labour candidate, Jessie Joe Jacobs.
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 mayor of Tees Valley 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 borough with unitary authority status in North Yorkshire, England, based around the town of Middlesbrough in the north of the county. It is part of the Tees Valley combined authority, along with Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington boroughs. Nunthorpe along with Stainton and Thornton have statutory parish councils.
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.
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.
