And so we have arrived at that time (Thursday 2 May in fact) when the good citizens of the Tees Valley elect their Metropolitan Mayor. Or should we say re-elect?
For those of you entitled to vote at this particular ballot with the required identification documentation, here’s a quick summary of some of current mayor Ben Houchen’s achievements (or otherwise). In numbers.
Three This is Houchen’s third election campaign. In the two polls since the post’s inception, the recently ennobled Lord Houchen of High Leven has won hands down – with 72.8% of the vote in 2021 and 51.1% in 2017.
Can His Lordship pull off a hat trick? Especially when the Conservatives are no longer surfing a wave of Brexit mania and their former icon Boris Johnson is now hiding in the fridge?
A recent poll puts Houchen and his Labour opponent Chris McEwan neck-and-neck with 47% of voting intentions each, with the Liberal Democrat Simon Thorley trailing at 6%.
Five The Mayor’s domain covers five local authorities: Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton and for some inexplicable reason, slightly posher Darlington.
The facebook king
£83,347 The sum Houchen and his Tory backers have spent on Facebook ads since November 2018. Not including “non-political” government ads such as the Town Fund campaign.
£2000+ The value of Houchen’s Facebook ads last week.
Teesworks and Teesworks
Two. There are two Teesworks. One Teesworks is the new name for a vast site near the mouth of the Tees, once occupied by British Steel and now one of the largest brownfield sites to be cleaned up in Europe. It was bought in 2020 with a Compulsory Purchase Order by the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), a subsidiary of Tees Valley Combined Authority. Houchen led the purchase battle.
The area of the site is variously described by official sources as 2,500 acres and 4,500 acres.
Then there’s Teesworks Ltd, a joint venture between the STDC and private interests, the latter assuming majority control in 2021.
Four The number of businessmen who control the private section of Teesworks Ltd through their various companies. They are residential property developers Chris Musgrave, Martin Corney and the latter’s stepfather Ian Waller, plus planner Chris Harrison. The driving forces in the joint venture are Musgrave and Corney.
£0 The sum paid by the businessmen for their purchase of the 90% private interest in Teesworks Ltd.
Three The number of staff employed by Teesworks Ltd, according to their annual accounts.
£300,000. The amount paid by the. businessmen for an option on 70 acres owned by Redcar Bulk Terminal (RBT) which provided the ransom strip of land that secured the TVCA’s Compulsory Purchase Order of the steelworks site. This gave them the chance to get their feet under the Teesworks Ltd table.
One OneFreeport, covering the Teesworks site, PD Ports, Teesside Airport, RBT and other locations. The Freeport area businesses will benefit from a number of tax and other concessions.
Friends with benefits
Two There are two Dave Garsides. David Garside Senior, a former boxer and fight promoter, owns a security firm in Hartlepool called NE Security Limited which guards the Freeport. The company also provides security for the Wynyard Estate, the vast residential development in Stockton and Hartlepool, created by Musgrave. Garside Senior also provided bodyguard duties to Mrs Musgrave when she attended court on a road rage charge.
Dave Garside Junior, an employee at his father’s company, has taken on CEO duties during his father’s current illness. Dave Junior has had two prison stretches: for cocaine trafficking and for his involvement in a machete attack.
Turning a few bucks
£65,000 Houchen’s mayoral salary.
£342 Houchen’s daily allowance for attending the House of Lords.
£108mn Earnings after tax for the Teesworks Ltd businessmen from scrap sales, land deals and consultancy services.
Cleaning up
£560mn Public money provided for the clean-up of Teesworks land.
£0 Moneypaid by the Teesworks Ltd businessmen for the clean-up of Teesworks land.
Happy families
£6.8mn Equity in 2023 of TCC Plant Ltd which leases construction machinery including to contractors on the Teesworks site, according to Private Eye (Issue 1622. 26 April- 9 May 2024). It is owned by Corney’s son-in-law Tom Carr. Corney’s son Chester is a co-director.
The two are co-owners of TCC Metals Ltd which was incorporated in October last year. They already have a scrap deal with British Steel, according to Private Eye.
Corney’s son-in-law Orion Kotrri, said by Private Eye to have no relevant experience, handles the removal of scrap metal from the Teesworks site.
£1.07mn Equity in 2022 of JCM Plant Ltd , with Musgrave’s 26-year-old son Joe the director. The company leases plant equipment.
£300,000 Value of the Rolls Royce Cullinan recently delivered to Joe Musgrave.
Jobs for the boys?
18,000 That’s the future skilled jobs originally on the Teesworks site as promised on the TVCA website. The number has since been upgraded to 20,000. The source provided by the TVCA is “A proposal for a national freezone policy”, commissioned by Houchen, which promoted a national pilot Free Trade Zone (or Freeport) in Tees Valley.
1600 The actual jobs prediction in the report, provided there are favourable investment conditions and if the developers copy the models of Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone and Singapore’s Jurong Island, which both depend on low-cost migrant labour.
2,295 Direct jobs to be created once the site is operational, as predicted by the Tees Valley Review (2024) commissioned by Michael Gove.
940 Jobs created so far – in non-permanent construction, according to the same report.
5000 Local jobs lost from the refusal of the Conservative government to bail out the steel industry after China dumped under-priced steel onto the world market.
Access all areas
A likely £4.3 mn Legal costs of Houchen’s action against PD Ports, in a move to shake down the area’s largest job creator over access across the Teesworks site to their property. Houchen lost the case and the £4.3mn will be paid from the public purse.
£0 Cost to the four Teesworks Ltd businessmen of the failed case.
£108mn The maximum expected by the Teesworks Ltd businessmen in the shape of charges to PD Ports and consultancy fees if the case had succeeded.
Flights of fancy
£40mn Cost of TVCA buying Teesside International Airport, purchased in 2019.
Minus £4.5mn Overall losses in year to March 2023 of Teesside International Airport Ltd. (2022: minus £11.9mn)
We see no ships
Zero No evidence of corruption was found by The Tees Valley Review, commissioned by Michael Gove MP, (Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities.)
28 The number of recommendations issued by the Review. They mostly dwell on oversight, scrutiny, transparency, managing financial risk, and value for money.
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to launch a National Audit Office probe if her party wins the next General Election.
The bottom line
35% Proportion of children in Tees Valley growing up in poverty.
