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Current Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen will face Chris McEwen, Labour deputy leader of nearby Darlington council, in a crunch election next week.
DAN HODGES: Rishi Sunak wanted last week's Cabinet reshuffle to be a political 'game-changer'. And for one Red Wall Tory MP it certainly was. 'He's betrayed us,' they told me bitterly.
Dehenna Davison, who won Bishop Auckland aged just 26 during Boris Johnson's 2019 landslide, said migraines were taking such a toll she could not continue.
DAN HODGES: A patch of asphalt in Emley Moore Road, Darlington, could be seen as emblematic of the Tories' hopes in tomorrow's local council elections.
The housing crisis and the Late Late Toy Show lead many of the Saturday papers.