Convention of the North Day One notebook: Lancashire mayor expected, HS2 embarrassment and Eden Project Morecambe

Jamie Lopez's notes from the first day at Convention of the North

Convention of the North. Credit: The Lancashire Lead

Convention of the North day one is in the bag and day two is coming today.

The Lead North reporter Jamie Lopez was in Preston yesterday to hear all things devolution, Eden Project Morecambe, advanced manufacturing, the shambles that is HS2 and Angela Rayner’s upcoming appearance.

Here are his key takeaways from the first day - and we’ll produce something similar for day two too.

Lancashire Mayor expected to be elected in 2026

When Lancashire’s devolution deal was announced, the defence against criticism that it didn't go far enough or unlock enough power and funding was that it was only intended to be a first step. That was backed up when the Labour government revealed its intention on devolution and now one of the signatures of the agreement said he expects to see a mayoral election next year.

Cllr Phil Riley, Blackburn with Darwen Council leader, said the creation of the Lancashire Combined Authority would enable the county to take charge of infrastructure and follow the examples seen in nearby devolved areas such as Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region.

He said: “We needed something of size that enables us to start looking at a county that is of size. In terms of what we do with that, we’ve got wonderful examples close by. We don’t need to look at reinventing the wheel because they’ve done it already and they’re doing it so that’s really what I would like to believe we’re going to do.

“That’s why we’ve ended up with this Combined Authority. That’s why I think it’s clear we’ll be in the Mayoral Election process in May.

“That really enables us to complete the picture. There’s no real point in staying where we are, we need to complete that picture so that’s what we will be doing.”