Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has slammed Rishi Sunak just days after championing the Prime Minister’s work following his re-election triumph.
Lord Houchen, who was returned for a third successive term as Tees Valley Mayor, was seen as a silver lining for the Prime Minister following a torrid set of local election results.
Houchen received 53.6 per cent of the vote, down from 72.8 per cent in 2021.
He initially thanked the Prime Minister for his supporting, saying: “I could not have delivered the things we’ve delivered in this region, without you, Prime Minister.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak congratulates Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen on his re-election
GETTY
However, Houchen has now claimed the Tories are “fighting each other like rats in a sack” and blamed Sunak for the situation.
He said: “If the Government actually got on and delivered some real things and showed themselves to be competent, and did the things that people wanted them to, then there is a way through to be able to get some of that respect back, some of that confidence back from the public and to help reduce what is a very large gap at the minute.”
He added: “Ultimately, it always rests on the shoulders of the leader, all responsibility goes back to the top, it’s the same in my job as well. Ultimately, you’re the one responsible for it.”
The Tees Valley Mayor made the comments as a new YouGov opinion poll revealed Labour’s lead is now hitting 30 per cent.
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Lord Houchen, Mayor of the Tees Valley won re-electionPALabour received 48 per cent support, with the Tories languishing behind in a distant second on just 18 per cent.
Reform UK consolidated its third place standing on 13 per cent, with the Liberal Democrats and Greens receiving nine and seven per cent respectively.
Houchen’s latest intervention comes as pressure mounts on the Prime Minister.
Sunak’s Tories lost 474 councillors, eight Police & Crime Commissioners and West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.
Rishi Sunak
GettyThe Prime Minister this week received a fresh blow as right-wing Dover MP Natalie Elphicke defected to Labour.
Elphicke joins Wakefield MP Christian Wakeford and Central Suffolk MP Dan Poulter on the Labour benches.
Ex-deputy party chairman Lee Anderson also crossed the floor to join Richard Tice’s populist party Reform UK.
Despite doom and gloom in the opinion polls, the Prime Minister continues to claim the UK looks set for a hung parliament come polling day.