Simon Henig
Simon Antony Henig is a British politician, former leader of Durham County Council, and from April 2014 to May 2025 was chair of the North East Combined Authority.
Early life
Simon Henig was born in June 1969, the son of the former Labour MP and Lancaster council leader Stanley Henig, and the historian Ruth Henig. Simon's grandfather, Sir Mark Henig, served as Lord Mayor of Leicester and led the English Tourist Board. He was educated at Moorside Primary School, Lancaster, Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford.Career
Politics
In 1999, Henig was first elected as a councillor in the County Durham town of Chester-le-Street.From 2001 to 2008, Henig was the agent for North Durham CLP, and chair of the North East Regional Board. In 2007, Henig was runner-up to be the Labour candidate to replace Tony Blair as MP for Sedgefield.
From May 2008 until May 2021, Henig was Leader of Durham County Council. In 2013, Henig led his local Labour Party to a substantially increased majority and a council group of 94, the largest in the UK, although that was reduced to 74 in 2017. He is the chair of the Association of Labour Councillors. Henig is chair of the County Durham Partnership Board, a member of Labour's National Policy Forum and Chair of the Regional Board.
Henig was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 New Year Honours.