Convention of the North Day Two notebook: More mayor talk, lack of policy and Yorkshire Tea

All the notes from day two of Convention of the North

Convention of the North. Credit: Lancashire County Council

All being well (depending on your viewpoint), Lancashire will have an elected mayor by 2026.

Given the level of debate around the issue - and the issue of how to redraw 15 councils into three or four that won’t go away - it feels ambitious, but that’s the goal for the government.

Jamie Lopez reflects on day two of Convention of the North.

Lancashire mayor to be elected by 2026

Mirroring a prediction from Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Cllr Phil Riley yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Rayner made a somewhat bold statement that new Northern mayors would be elected by 2026.

For Lancashire, that would surely mean forcing an agreement among a lot of dissenting voices and given the history of long disagreements within the county, such swift movement feels very ambitious.

Lots of collaboration, but little concrete policy

On two occasions today - first in a panel and second in a press conference - all of the Northern Labour mayors joined together to answer questions. Giving a united front, it was that ambitions now stretch far beyond any local projects to how they can work together and get even more power and funding given to the entire North.

And that fits in accordingly with what Rayner said in her speech as she promised that “Northerners will no longer be dictated to by Whitehall”, arguing that decisions are “best made by people with skin in the game”.

While she said that mayors would be given more control of planning and spending and outlined the creation of regional departments of Homes England, her speech was light on any specifics that went beyond the sentiment.