Ben Houchen

Mayor The Lord Houchen of High Leven
Houchen in 2024
Tees Valley Mayor
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 May 2017
Preceded by	Office established
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 July 2023 Life peerage
Personal details
Born	Ben Houchen (1986-12-09) 9 December 1986 (age 37) Stockton-on-Tees, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Rachel Flanagan ​ (m. 2011)​
Residence(s)	Yarm, North Yorkshire, England
Alma mater	Northumbria University
Website	Official website

Ben Houchen, Baron Houchen of High Leven (born 9 December 1986), is a British Conservative politician and life peer. He has been Tees Valley Mayor since 2017, winning the inaugural mayoral election in the combined authority. Houchen was re-elected in 2021 and won a third term in 2024.

As mayor, Houchen represents the five local authority areas in the Tees Valley: Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool, and Darlington, and he also acts as chairman of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, the body tasked with driving economic growth and job creation in the area.^[1]

As of May 2024^[update], Houchen is the only Conservative combined-authority mayor in England.