Chris Cooke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mayor of Middlesbrough | |
| Assumed office 4 May 2023 | |
| Deputy | Philippa Storey |
| Preceded by | Andy Preston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1990 (age 34–35) Middlesbrough,Cleveland,England |
| Political party | Labour |
Chris Cooke (born 1990) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the directly elected Mayor of Middlesbrough leading Middlesbrough Council since May 2023. [1]
Cooke was born in 1990 in Middlesbrough,Cleveland,England. [2] [3] He grew up in care. [1] He was educated at St Peter's Secondary School,a Catholic school in South Bank,Redcar and Cleveland. [2]
After school,Cooke began an apprenticeship at Laurence Jackson School in Guisborough as an IT technician. He remained at the school after completing his apprenticeship. Some time after being elected a councillor in 2019,he left his IT job and became a community cohesion co-ordinator at Streets Ahead,a charitable help and advice centre in Middlesbrough. [2]
In the 2019 local elections held on 2 May,Cooke was elected as one of three Labour Party councillors to represent the Newport ward on Middlesbrough Council. [4]
On 4 May 2023,he was elected Mayor of Middlesbrough with 10,956 votes,defeating the incumbent Andy Preston by 760 votes. [5]
Shortly after his election,Cooke expressed the need for a change of culture within Middlesbrough Council stating there to be “an adversarial culture between politicians and officers”. [6] He vowed the council he leads would become "a service-led organisation",and that children's social care would get his full focus. [7]
As Mayor of Middlesbrough,he is a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet. [8]
Cooke is married to Julia Cooke,who was elected as a Labour councillor for the Berwick Hills and Pallister ward on Middlesbrough Council in 2023. [2] [9] He is a Christian. [2]