Member Article

Is there any belief in the Northern Powerhouse anymore?

You may not believe me when I tell you this but life did exist before Brexit. It may not feel like it of course. After all, the word itself has dominated news headlines for so long now, often it seems we hear and read of little else.

How different the General Election of 2017 played out in comparison to the triumph of David Cameron, and certainly George Osborne, in 2015. A campaign where domestic policy and discussion reigned supreme.

Now I’d be doing a disservice to grassroot level campaigners if I were to suggest that Brexit has been the nation’s only focus in this year’s election runup. Of course it hasn’t.

However, the issue of negotiating Britain’s leave from the European Union will be, certainly within high political discourse, what this election is remembered for.

So whether or not you’re a supporter of Theresa May, it’s only fair to say that the current PM’s hands were tied a lot tighter than Mr Cameron’s two years ago.

Sure, May didn’t have to call the election (I didn’t vote for her before you all @ me your tweets of contempt) and indeed the decision backfired catastrophically.

Yet due to Brexit’s vacuous nature, it seems that so many other policies - which were freer to focus on during Osborne and Cameron’s run - have been much maligned.

Cue the Northern Powerhouse.

Now many of you, even before opening this article, will have scoffed at the headline. ‘Was there ever any belief in the Northern Powerhouse’, you might cry! This I can appreciate.

Or, equally, I can appreciate those of you who’ve heard of the term but can’t quite remember what all the hubbub was about. We can blame Brexit for that too, right?

In a nutshell, the Northern Powerhouse is the former Chancellor, George Osborne’s, grand plan to redress the UK’s economic imbalance through greater investment, interconnectivity and autonomy for the North’s big cities.

In theory, whether you liked the phrase or believed in its ministerial backers, closing the North/South divide is not just a noble - but indeed an incontrovertibly necessary - pursuit.

Whether George Osborne was truly the man to pioneer such a project is another debate entirely but what really irks me is that such a huge scheme has been sidelined pretty much since May came to power.

Of course I understand why, yes that’s right I am talking about the dreaded B word again, although even before the election runup it seemed that the new PM had moved to distance herself from policies propagated by the previous regime.

Now I’d always argue that the true, and perhaps only, way to unlock the North’s economic potential must be driven primarily by its businesses. However, a catalyst for such growth would surely come from tangible government investment in improving transport and connectivity certainly.

This week the Powerhouse returned to our radars when Minister Andrew Percy announced on Instagram, edgy right?, that he’d decided to step down from his post.

So what does this mean? On face value you could of course believe that Mr Percy wishes to pursue other interests and prefers the backbenches. Let’s face it, he probably does.

Yet, on a more of a Northern pan-regional level, I think it’s actually a little sad. The Powerhouse position should be coveted. It’s a role, ideally speaking, which presents an unprecedented, transformational task. A chance to make a difference.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr Percy has found his hands tied on many occasion since stepping into the job, there’s simply too much going on elsewhere in government and politics now for such a role to take to the fore.

And this is certainly sad for the North East too. A region desperately trying to elevate itself, not only on a national level, but in Northern discourse itself.

We’ve had James Wharton, the original NP minister, who hailed from Teesside (pictured below). Percy from Yorkshire and now Jake Berry, the new man in office, who’s an MP for Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire. For all the supposed intent to avoid Manchester dominating the idea of what the North is, it’s hardly encouraging that the ministerial position seems to be gravitating away from the provinces and closer to central Manchester!

I’ll be honest, I’ve always found the phrase itself to be a gimmick and I’ve heavily scrutinised the government’s commitment to the scheme for over two years now. However, what I do have in abundance, is unwavering belief in the North, its businesses, its potential and its people.

Certainly the concept of Northern prosperity has more longevity than a phrase coined by an ex Chancellor. What interests me now is how long the buzzword will be around. Talks of a Northern Powerhouse have seemed to evaporate during May’s premiership.

Whether she continues as PM is, at present, wholly uncertain. As is the future of British economic direction, whoever leads our charge. A certainty, however, is the eternal need to persevere for a greater North. Luckily this is something our businesses aren’t unfamiliar with.