Chris Cooke (politician)
Mayor of Middlesbrough
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Cooke (born 1990) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the directly elected Mayor of Middlesbrough leading Middlesbrough Council since May 2023.[1]
Chris Cooke | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mayor of Middlesbrough | |
| Assumed office 4 May 2023 | |
| Deputy | Philippa Storey |
| Preceded by | Andy Preston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1990 (age 35–36) Middlesbrough, Cleveland, England |
| Party | Labour |
Early life
Cooke was born in 1990 in Middlesbrough, Cleveland, England.[2][3] He grew up in care.[1] He was educated at St Peter's Secondary School, a Catholic school in South Bank, Redcar and Cleveland.[2]
After school, Cooke began an apprenticeship at Laurence Jackson School in Guisborough as an IT technician. He remained at the school after completing his apprenticeship. Some time after being elected a councillor in 2019, he left his IT job and became a community cohesion co-ordinator at Streets Ahead, a charitable help and advice centre in Middlesbrough.[2]
Political career
In the 2019 local elections held on 2 May, Cooke was elected as one of three Labour Party councillors to represent the Newport ward on Middlesbrough Council.[4]
On 4 May 2023, in the 2023 Middlesbrough Council election, he was elected Mayor of Middlesbrough with 10,956 votes, defeating the incumbent Andy Preston by 760 votes.[5]
Shortly after his election, Cooke expressed the need for a change of culture within Middlesbrough Council stating there to be “an adversarial culture between politicians and officers”.[6] He vowed the council he leads would become "a service-led organisation", and that children's social care would get his full focus.[7]
As Mayor of Middlesbrough, he is a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet.[8]
Personal life
Cooke is married to Julia Cooke, who was elected as a Labour councillor for the Berwick Hills and Pallister ward on Middlesbrough Council in 2023.[2][9]