Northern business and elected leaders have published their Manifesto for the North which sets out a bold new vision for the North of England and key asks of a new Government to help power up the North.
The first of its kind, the Manifesto will be presented to the Conservatives, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, as a unified vision for how the North’s full potential can be unleashed.
Five policy ‘game changers’ outline the North’s ambitions for clean growth, devolution, transport, education, investment and trade.
As the country prepares to head to the polls, Northern business and elected leaders have joined forces to publish the first ever Manifesto for the North – outlining the ambition to power up the North with support of the incoming Government.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “This General Election must be a change election for the North of England.
“The time has come for the North to break free of the shackles of a London-centric Parliament and take more control over its own destiny.
“People here feel a deep sense of frustration that our political system has not worked as well for us as it has for others. It has left us with a second-class transport service, a housing crisis and a deep North-South divide.
“But, despite that, Northern political and business leaders share a positive belief in the potential of our region and its incredible people. We are optimistic about our future. The fact that we have come together across geographical and political divides to make this unprecedented and united call for change is a clear demonstration of the strength of our feeling.”
The Manifesto for the North is a five-point plan produced by the Convention of the North and NP11 – a group of all 11 Northern Local Enterprise Partnerships – representing the North’s business drive and collective political will to influence major changes across a range of policy levers, from skills and education, to housing, transport, innovation, trade and investment, and clean growth.
It has been born out of the Convention for the North with NP11 event, which took place in Rotherham in September 2019.
Hundreds of people of all ages and from across the North attended the convention – the largest gathering of its kind.
Business leaders, education providers, politicians, youth groups and charities, came together to discuss and debate the key policy priorities that will enable a prosperous Northern economy.
Following a year that has seen the largest coordinated action on climate change to date, political and business leaders across the North of England have today backed the five-point manifesto which seeks to enable the North to lead a green industrial revolution and address the over-centralisation of the UK economy.
