Read about Ben Houchen net worth, age, wife, partner, children, height, family, parents, salary, politics, and party as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Ben Houchen is a British politician who is serving as the Tees Valley Mayor since May 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, Houchen represents the five Tees Valley local authority areas of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington. He also acts as chairman of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, the body that drives economic growth and job creation in the area.
Houchen promised to bring Teesside International Airport (then Durham Tees Valley Airport) back into its previous name and public ownership as part of his mayoral campaign. In December 2018 Houchen announced that a £40 million deal to buy the airport had been reached with The Peel Group. The acquisition was unanimously approved by the Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet in January 2019. In 2021, Houchen was re-elected for a second term.
Early life
| Name | Ben Houchen |
| Net Worth | $3 million |
| Occupation | Mayor of Tees Valley |
| Age | 35 years |
| Height | 1.75m |
Ben Houchen was born on December 9, 1986 (35 years) in Stockton-on-Tees, United Kingdom. Houchen grew up in Ingleby Barwick. He attended Conyers School in Yarm before studying law at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne. He is the nephew of Keith Houchen, a former football player for Coventry City F.C.
Political career
Ben Houchen was a councillor on Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, representing Yarm ward, between 2011 and 2017. In 2012 he stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate in the Middlesbrough by-election.
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Houchen was the Conservative candidate for the North East region in the 2014 European Parliament elections. Ben Houchen was selected as the Conservative Party candidate for Mayor of the Tees Valley in December 2016. Upon taking office, he became entitled to the style of Mayor.
In 2019, Ben Houchen appeared on LBC’s list of the ‘Top 100 Most Influential Conservatives’, at number 100. He was accused of pork barrel politics in the run-up to the Hartlepool byelection of 2021. At the 2021 Tees Valley mayoral election, Ben Houchen was re-elected with 72.8% of the vote.
In December 2018 Houchen announced a £40 million deal had been agreed upon to buy Peel Airports’ 89% majority shareholding in Durham Tees Valley Airport, bringing the airport back into public ownership for the first time since it was sold to Peel in 2003.
On 24 January the plan was unanimously approved by the Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet. Purchasing the airport was Ben Houchen’s primary election pledge in his campaign in the 2017 Tees Valley mayoral election. As of 2021, the cost of bringing the airport back into public control stood at £40 million.
The South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) is the first Mayoral Development Corporation outside of London. Chaired by Houchen, the STDC area covers approximately 4,500 acres of land to the south of the River Tees, in the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland, and includes a former SSI steelworks site as well as other industrial assets.
The area includes the deep-water port of Teesport. The STDC aims to create approximately 20,000 new jobs and contribute £1 billion per annum to the UK economy by 2025. However, as of late 2021, the economic impact of the port has been described as ‘speculative’ by a member of the management board.
In January 2019, Houchen announced that a deal had been reached to acquire 1,420 acres of land on the STDC site from Tata Steel Europe. The acquisition was signed off in February 2019. Consequently, he was one of the figures responsible in 2021 for the controversial demolition of the landmark Brutalist Dorman Long Tower, after lodging an appeal against its recent granting of a Grade II listing.
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Ben Houchen later accused the Historic England official who listed the structure as being a junior member of staff, who had acted without the permission of senior managers. This was later robustly denied by Historic England who released a statement saying “The mayor’s statement is incorrect – the listing was not a mistake. Historic England advised DCMS to list the site. Following a site visit, our advice to list the site remained the same”.
Wife
Ben Houchen is married to his wife Rachel, they had their wedding in 2011. His wife is a French teacher at Conyers School. He is the nephew of ex-professional footballer Keith Houchen who scored the equalizing goal for Coventry City in the 1987 FA Cup Final. As of mid-2022, Ben Houchen and his wife Rachel Houchen are still married and living a happy life with each other. The couple resides in Yarm and hasn’t disclosed their children’s plans to the general public.
Ben Houchen net worth
How much is Ben Houchen worth? Ben Houchen net worth is estimated at around $3 million. His main source of income is from his primary work as a politician serving as a mayor. Ben Houchen’s salary per month and other career earnings are over $300,000 dollars annually. His remarkable achievements have earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy car trips. He is one of the richest and most influential mayors in the United Kingdom. Ben Houchen stands at an appealing height of 1.75m and has a good body weight which suits his personality.