Local Election: Tories have a mixed night on Teeside, making gains and losses

Labour gained the marquee scalp of the Middlesbrough Mayor, but also failed to take control of councils in what was a former heartland.

While failing to ultimately take full control of Darlington, the party did make sizeable gains, and is now the largest party.

By far the most eye-catching result in the region was the defeat of Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston by Labour’s Chris Cooke, who clinched victory in a narrow contest, which came down to just 760 votes.

Labour won with 10,956 votes to Independent Mr Preston’s 10,196.

Jon Rathmell, another independent, received 3,102 votes and Conservative John Cooper finished last with 2,997.

Mr Cooke said: “I would like to thank the other candidates, it’s been a whirlwind experience but I would like to thank them for being part of it. I would also like to thank every single person who was involved in using their democratic process. I am thoroughly looking forward to getting on with the job.”

During his campaign, the Labour candidate pledged to support families through the cost of living crisis, restore trust and faith in the council, create jobs, support local businesses, ensure there are decent homes and create a plan to make the town safe. He also committed to scrapping the Linthorpe Road cycle lane.

A Labour spokesperson said: “This is a huge result and beyond our expectations. Taking this back from independents who won it with 59 per cent of the vote in 2019 shows exactly the kind of progress we needed to make in Teesside.”

Labour has repeatedly said throughout the campaign that it is taking nothing for granted. Mr Preston, who has been mayor since 2019, was considered the favourite heading into the race but his hopes of serving for another four years have been dashed.

The ousted mayor said he would have loved to have seen through the plans he was working on for the town but he had given 100 per cent and was looking forward to getting his life back.

Taking to the stage after his defeat, he added: “It’s been an amazing four years, incredibly difficult, incredibly tough.

“We have had Covid, we have had a cost of living crisis, monstrous retail decline but despite that we have got record investment, a jobs boom, amazing things going on, and we are fighting challenges head-on….We don’t cover up the problems anymore, I think the town is in great shape to move forward.”

Meanwhile in Redcar and Cleveland, the out-going leader Mary Lanigan lost her seat after being formally censured in March after she "shouted like a banshee" during a neighbour dispute.

The full result there won’t be known until Tuesday, because after two recounts in one ward proved inconclusive, candidates there agreed to a third, which will take place at 10am after the Bank Holiday Weekend.

Over in Stockton-on-Tees, The Conservatives are now the largest party (23 seats), with one more than Labour (22), but the council remains in no overall control.

Labour lost out on control of Darlington Council by just one seat - having 25 seats in total, having gained five.

The Conservatives lost eight seats on the council, with the Green Party also gaining five.

Two independents lost their seats.