ELECTION
ELECTION
Ben Houchen , Tees Valley mayor for the last four years , says he is letting the country know that our region is the greatest in the UK .
Ahead of the delayed Tees Valley mayoral election on Thursday May 6 , Tees Business asked some key questions of the two candidates – Labour ’ s Jessie Joe Jacobs and Conservative Ben Houchen , the incumbent for the past four years . Here ’ s what they had to say …
16 | Tees Business
As Tees Valley mayor , what would you stand for ? Ben : For decades , Teesside , Darlington and Hartlepool were ignored and forgotten . Jobs were leaving . Investment dried up . Local people began to worry about whether our region would ever catch up .
My whole purpose is to make sure that never happens again . That ’ s what I stand for .
This is the greatest region in the UK . I ’ m making sure the rest of the UK knows it . Jessie : I am a social entrepreneur , obsessed with how places thrive and renew themselves . I ’ ve travelled the world , learned from the best and now I will bring that knowledge and experience to set a new course for the Tees .
Under my leadership , we will make the Tees Valley a great place to live , work and play . We will build a futurefacing region that offers opportunity and secure jobs for all – a region of confident communities with vibrant town centres connected by a smart , integrated transport infrastructure . My fundamental beliefs and values are : Small is big – places thrive when they grow their own . I believe we can birth the next Google or Uber . If we get behind a thousand small things , we will find our own next big thing .
Courage and innovation – our future is in tech , climate industries , digital , culture and tourism . I will have the courage to change course and try new things .
Compassion and collaboration – we will never be all we can be if we turn a blind eye to the poverty and inequality that exists in this area . I will take on the big issues and encourage each of us to play our part . It will never be about “ me ”, it will always be about “ we ”.
Unlimited belief and positivity in what we can be – I ’ ve championed this region for so many years and have massive dreams for our future .
If elected , what ideas for local job creation would you put in place ? Ben : We need to bring in new jobs . We need to help people get new skills to secure those jobs . And we need to build the right infrastructure to support job creation .
The good news is we ’ re already making progress on all three .
We ’ re transforming Teesworks , which will create 20,000 new jobs for local people . We ’ re delivering the Teesside
Skills Academy to help residents learn new skills . And we ’ re introducing new flights to our airport and creating a freeport , which will attract new investment . Jessie : Green futures – investment in green industry , green business and climate jobs .
Tech Valley – in 2019 , the UK tech sector grew more than China ’ s or the USA ’ s . We have the potential to be the industrial and gaming tech centre of Europe . Tech Valley will put us on the international map with PR , finance , space and skills development .
Culture and tourism – tourism is growing faster than the rest of the economy . We will take a much bigger share of the pie by launching ourselves as an emerging visitor destination through funding big and small projects and high-profile campaigns .
If elected , how would you look to support the region ’ s businesses ? Ben : As we recover from the pandemic , supporting local businesses is more important than ever .
We ’ ve introduced free parking to town centres , which will mean more people supporting more local businesses .