A Tory Grandee is being lined up by the Government to become the new head of Transport for the North according to reports this morning
The Times says that Lord McLoughlin, the former Tory chairman is being lined up for the role in an attempt by the Government to curb the influence of labour Mayors in the region
Andy Burnham described that move as “worrying” attempt to weaken the region politically. “Not only did we lose out on infrastructure, we got silenced as well,” he said. “There’s clearly a number of people in Whitehall who don’t like the idea of the north having a stronger voice.”
According to the paper
He will appear before a panel next week alongside his rival for the post, Lucy Armstrong, a consultant with expertise in private equity and headhunting who chairs the Port of Tyne. A civil servant described Armstrong as a relative unknown who would inevitably lose out.
