Teesside MPs take part in a debate on whether to hold general election

Stockton West Conservative MP Matt Vickers was one of the region’s representatives to take part, on Monday January 12. He took issue with promises made by Labour in opposition now being “broken”. Mr Vickers decried the family farm tax, the previous removal of the winter fuel allowance, the prospect of an end to jury trials, amongst much else. He was also not happy about the ending of the two-child benefit cap and the “ever-increasing” amount spent on benefits. 

Labour MP for Redcar, Anna Turley, meanwhile, spoke positively of the government she is a part of, describing the recent budget as one that is “bearing down on the cost of living” and lifting “millions” of children out of poverty. She argued against having another general election, pointing out how such an event would go against necessary “stability” for small businesses.

Anna Turley, Labour MP for Redcar (Image: NORTHERN ECFHO)

Mr Vickers also berated the government for plans surrounding digital ID, something that wasn’t in the Labour Party ’s manifesto, adding: “We do not want it, we do not need it and nobody voted for it. It fundamentally changes the relationship between citizen and state, and this government have no mandate to do it.” It was confirmed on the evening of Tuesday January 13 that the mandatory element of the plans – requiring digital ID to work in the UK – has been dropped by government.

Matt Vickers, Conservative MP for Stockton West. Picture: Matt Vickers MP.

Ms Turley said she was “proud” to defend the government’s record and discussed some of the government’s commitments, such as protecting the triple lock for pensioners, providing 30 hours of free childcare, and having set up 750 primary school breakfast clubs. 

She later added: “I could go on about manifesto pledges that have been met, such as banning trail hunting, ending hereditary peers, and the Football Governance Act 2025 giving fans a real voice in their football clubs. We promised 2 million more NHS appointments; we have delivered 5 million more already.”

Mr Vickers had earlier said: “The word that comes up on the doorstep, time and again, is “betrayal”. People feel totally and utterly betrayed by this Labour government, and Labour members should ask themselves why. This Labour government are riddled with scandal and chaos.”

Ms Turley, who is chair of the Labour Party, was responding on behalf of the government in the debate, highlighting how the number of people signing such a petition was down two thirds on the same time the previous year. She said it was “clear” that “the Tories are not serious, cannot be trusted and have not learned from the failures they made in office”.

Earlier in the discussion, Mr Vickers had defended the Tory record on the economy, highlighting that the previous Conservative government had left Labour the fastest growing economy in the G7. Ms Turley, however, said that Labour had been left to fix the mess that the Tories left, later adding that “decades of decline do not disappear in months”.

Ms Turley also took aim at Reform, who continue to lead nationwide opinion polls, both in terms of the percentage of the popular vote, but also when it comes to measuring the number of seats they would win. Ms Turley described Reform as “not fit to govern”.

Earlier in the debate, Reform MP Lee Anderson had taken aim at the irony of some of the resignations from the current government – one of which being an “anti-corruption minister [having] to resign over corruption”.

In the Tees Valley, recent polls that break down votes to a seat-by-seat measure, show Reform winning five or six of the seven seats in our area, while the Tories win one or two. Labour, who currently hold six out of the seven seats, would lose them all and – according to the polls – would be pushed into third place in many of the seats, falling behind both the Tories and Reform. 

In summer 2025, a year into his job as Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP, it was put to Labour’s Luke Myer that if there was an election the following day, it would not be a case of if he loses his seat, but to which party he would lose it. This still rings true today, with the Tories and Reform neck and neck in his seat, while Labour are a distant third. 

At the time, Mr Myer said: “We’re a long way off from the next election and anything can happen, if you look at some of the elections around the world, things have changed very very quickly, Canada, for example. So things are volatile, but I’m very, very conscious that the public need to see results. And if Labour doesn’t deliver, then we will not be in power after the next general election, so we can’t be complacent.”

The next general election needs to be held in 2029, or before, if the prime minister decides to call it earlier.