On a bitingly cold day last week, five activists hung a banner from a road bridge near Redcar. “Honk if you want Houchen out,” the banner read, and a steady flow of motorists sounded their horns as the protesters, wearing masks of Mr. Houchen’s face, cheered and waved. “He promises that Teesside will become an emerald city,” said Ray Casey, a member of a small group that opposes Mr. Houchen, called Teesside Resistance. Last year he was nominated for a seat in the House of Lords by his ally Boris Johnson, the former prime minister. A film studio has risen from the site of an old bus depot in Hartlepool, a gritty seaside town a long way from Hollywood in every sense.

Source: The Times May 01, 2024 17:48 UTC