VOTERS will head to polling stations today to elect the very first mayor of the Tees Valley .

Almost half a million people are registered to vote in the historic election across the five boroughs that make up the Tees Valley – Darlington, Hartlepool, Stockton, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland.

Local Elections

More than 350 polling stations opened at 7am this morning to allow people to cast their votes, and they will remain open until 10pm tonight.

The mayor will chair the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), which was set up in April 2016 to help overview job creation across the five boroughs.

The principal role of the mayor will be economic development, and they will also have powers over transport, housing, skills and apprenticeships, business growth, and culture and tourism

Candidates standing are Ben Houchen for the Conservatives, Sue Jeffrey for Labour, Chris Foote Wood for the Liberal Democrats, and John Tennant for UKIP.

The Northern Echo:

CANDIDATES: Ben Houchen, Sue Jeffrey, John Tennant and Chris Foote-Wood

Mr Houchen is a businessman who lives in Yarm and he also leads the Conservatives on Stockton Borough Council, whilst Ms Jeffrey is the leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council and formerly the chair of TCVA.

Mr Foote Wood is the former leader of Wear Valley District Council who has stood for Parliament eight times and for the European Parliament six times, and Mr Tennant is the leader of his party on Hartlepool Council.

The main talking point of the campaign has been around the future of Durham Tees Valley Airport (DVTA), with Mr Houchen pledging to take it into public ownership from Peel Airports if elected.

Another of the main issues has been that of transport, with Ms Jeffrey looking to improve the region’s bus services, whilst Mr Foote Wood wants to see the construction of a new “superbridge” as part of a Tees Valley metro system.

Mr Tennant, meanwhile, says he will offer voters a referendum on the position of a Tees Valley Mayor if he is elected.

The mayor will be elected by the Supplementary Vote System, as used for the London mayor and the Police and Crime Commissioners.

If one candidate wins more than 50 per cent of first choices, they are elected without further ado.

If not, the top two candidates go into a second round and the others are eliminated.

All the second choices from the eliminated candidates are then counted to discover the winner.

There has been little public demand for the new position and the recent announcement of a General Election, as well as the fact there are no other elections in the Tees Valley today, is expected to further discourage people from voting.

The votes from each borough will be revealed individually during the count, which will therefore give the first idea of the possible outcome of next month’s General Election.

The voting in Darlington, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool will be of particular interest, as all three boroughs include constituencies that are set to be keenly contested.

Once polling stations close, the boxes will then go to Thornaby Pavilion where counting will start at 11am tomorrow, with the result expected around 4pm.