Chris Cooke

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.

Early life Cooke was born in 1990 in Middlesbrough, Cleveland, England. He grew up in care.

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.

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”. He vowed the council he leads would become "a service-led organisation", and that children's social care would get his full focus.

As Mayor of Middlesbrough, he is a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet.

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.