Boris Johnson will promise northern communities ‘control over the things that matter to them’ in a speech to regional business and political leaders in Rotherham tomorrow.
Addressing the NP11 convention, the Prime Minister will point to further devolution deals for Yorkshire as he pledges to ‘maximise’ power held in the region.
However he will also promise to set up a new body to oversee devolution and policymaking for the north in general - a move political leaders here fear will be used to do the exact opposite, by keeping control in the hands of ministers.
Mr Johnson will also outline more of his domestic priorities, expected to include housing and transport.
The NP11 conference is a combination of the ‘convention of the north’ event - held in Newcastle this time last year - and a gathering of ‘local enterprise partnerships’, the bodies of business leaders intended to help steer economic growth.
It is likely to see further specific calls for extra funding and devolution from northern leaders, many of whom feel that the agenda has stalled since Theresa May took office in 2016.
But the Prime Minister is expected to reiterate commitment to the policy - although the detail remains to outlined.
“It is time that we gave more people a say over the places where they live, and it is time that we gave you the proper ability to run things your way,” he is due to tell delegates.
“We are going to maximise the power of the north. And we are going to make sure that it is people here who are in control over the things that matter to them.”
Earlier in the summer there had been some doubt about the potential location of the event, with government having originally been looking at Sheffield until the planned venue fell through.
Ultimately they opted for Rotherham, also in South Yorkshire - and likely to be a target for his party in the general election as it looks to win over traditionally Labour-voting but leave-leaning seats.
In a July speech in Manchester he also spoke in language aimed at Labour voters, focusing on issues such as bus regulation, not policies traditionally associated with the Conservatives.
Tomorrow he is likely to commit to delivering a Sheffield devolution deal, as well as ‘opening up negotiations’ with Leeds and West Yorkshire.
“If we succeed in levelling up opportunity across our country, and if we truly put the power in your hands, then I believe you will do for the north – and for our whole country - what the railways did two centuries ago,” he is expected to say.
“That is the true potential of this Northern Powerhouse Partnership. And this is a Government that will back you to deliver it.”
Mr Johnson is also expected to confirm that a new body will be set up to oversee the ‘northern powerhouse’ body, with an appointed chair to work ‘closely’ with the minister in charge of the portfolio, Jake Berry - a move northern leaders have been worried about for some time.
They fear it will be used by the government to undermine the voice and autonomy they have spent several years developing, by giving ministers more control over a region they are claiming to be empowering.
Manchester council leader Sir Richard Leese is among those with concerns, responding: “Presumably the chair will be appointed by government.
“Doesn’t sound like more power to local leaders to me.”
