Notes from the North: Houchen and Farage get pally and the potential cancellation of elections

Latest on our exclusive, agenda-setting and award-winning journalism in the North of England.

Nigel Farage, Ben Houchen (Image: © European Union 2015 - European Parliament, Tees Valley Combined Authority)

Not content with the hallowed scalp of Robert Jenrick, Reform UK leader has his eyes on a Teesside heavyweight as his next high-profile defection.

For that is exactly what Lord Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor, would represent.

He has said the qui…