The Green Party candidate for Tees Valley Mayor has withdrawn from the race citing the desire to not allow Ben Houchen a third term in office as her primary motivation.
Sally Bunce had promised ‘public involvement, transparency and honesty’ when she announced she was hoping to be elected on 2 May. But last Friday she announced her withdrawal.
“The main reason I stepped back,” she told The Yorkshire Post, “was because it was becoming clear that votes I would win could potentially take away from other candidates and allow Lord Houchen a third term in office. That’s something I can’t allow to happen.
“Let’s say I got eight per cent and Houchen won by seven, I would never have been able to live with myself. I just couldn’t allow myself to be responsible for allowing him back in.”
Beyond not wishing to see Houchen return, Bunce said that she won’t be endorsing any specific candidate. She refuted claims by Peter Gibson, MP for Darlington, that the Green Party had formed an informal pact with Labour.
In confirming that she had withdrawn as a candidate for Tees Valley Mayor, Bunce also said that she is a working mum who is ‘heavily involved’ in other voluntary roles and campaigns which would detract from her ability to do her best in the role.
A spokesperson for The Green Party said: “We are disappointed that Sally Bunce has chosen to withdraw as Tees Valley Mayor candidate at short notice. Sadly, the timing of the withdrawal means that we did not have time to stand an alternative candidate.
“We apologise to everybody who wanted to vote Green at this election and is now unable to. The Green Party continues to grow in strength and we were looking forward to challenging the current Mayor on his record, and giving voters the opportunity to choose a fairer future for Tees Valley.
“We are looking forward to campaigning in support of our North East Mayor candidate Andrew Gray, who will be pushing to introduce the large changes needed to make North East communities fairer, greener and more resilient.”
Houchen, the incumbent mayor, has held the post since 2017 and was re-elected in 2021 with 73 per cent of the vote. Chris McEwan is confirmed as the Labour candidate and Simon Thorley is the candidate for the Liberal Democrats.
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