Today we speak to Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor for Tees Valley who was given a life peerage by Boris Johnson. Adam speaks to Ben about his role as mayor, how he got into politics and how he managed to defeat national trends to hold his position in the 2024 local elections.Ben explains why he thinks the party should have gone shorter with their leadership campaign and his relationship with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhereNewscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Gemma Roper and Sam McLaren. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.