Mayors from across the North have announced plans to unite under the banner of Great North, setting out a new vision to champion their regions and unleash the potential of the North.

Seven mayors gathered on Saturday in Newcastle at an event brought together by North East mayor Kim McGuinness and Sir Brendan Foster, founder of the Great North Run, to pledge a new era of Northern co-operation.

The new Great North banner will give voice to the ambitions of an area spanning the Pennines, from Yorkshire and Lancashire, right up to the Scottish border, with a combined population of more than 15 million people. It will also allow the northern regions to market themselves globally under a single brand.

The move further marks a new era of cooperation and collaboration driven by the North, for the North – and a break with past attempts to define the limits of Northern ambition from Whitehall offices, and builds on the collaboration announced earlier this week by the Convention of the North.

The Great North will also build new foundations for cooperation across the regions and communities of the North, and enable diverse areas to make a stronger case for change – including when it comes to devolving more powers and responsibilities to local areas.

The mayors gathered before the AJ Bell Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon, to announce their plans to push for greater northern devolution and job creation.

Sir Brendan said he wanted to work with northern mayors to promote the region nationally and internationally, with everything from Great North Sport to Great North Arts potentially coming under the mayors combined investment plans in future.

North East mayor Kim McGuinness said the change was about the North coming together to rebalance the UK economy, and said the upcoming Government Spending Review would be the next joint lobbying initiative from the northern mayors.

Kim said: “The Great North Run has for decades shown what’s great about our North, and now it’s time we spread that message. We’re doing our bit to build on our Great North identity and uniting under that northern pride that defines us. We’re delighted to be working with Sir Brendan on a new era of northern collaboration, with a brand recognisable across the world.

“But this is just the start. As well as uniting to create opportunity and jobs we know we need a stronger, unified voice into government as we prepare for the Spending Review.

“We cannot afford to slow down the pace of devolution, a Great North deserves a greater say over its own future. That means handing mayors single settlements and an end to the days of bidding into Whitehall for permissions to spend, and changes to legislation to free up the north to contribute more to the Government’s missions.”

Sir Brendan said: “All my life I have seen how the north has been treated, and, put simply, for too long we have been held back and told what to do.

“Well now, things are going to change. We have the chance to work together and power our north and tell the world we are a Great North.

“Northern unity is an idea whose time has come, and from here we can change perceptions globally.”

They were joined by South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard, West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin, York and North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith, Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotherham.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “For too long, the North of England has been talked down by people who don’t live here. Those who do, know what a great place it is and we, as Mayors, are ready to proudly give voice to that sentiment wherever we go.

“The North of England is more organised and united today than at any point in our lifetimes, as evidenced by our gathering at the Great North Run. We know that we will never achieve our full potential if we let the others set a limit of our ambitions. We are ready to celebrate more of what the great North has been in the past, is today and will be in the future by building new foundations for cooperation across the North and calling on the new Government to back our ambitions.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire said: “We are entering a new era, with greater devolution allowing us to take more decisions about the North, in the North.

“Mayors and leaders across the North committed earlier this week to working together more collaboratively and establish a new body to take this forward.

“With the kind support of Sir Brendan, we can now stand proudly together under the Great North banner as we continue to develop our plans for the future.”

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “Great North isn’t something that has been thought up by Whitehall or imposed on us, it is an expression of the determination we have to work together to gain the responsibilities and resources we need to allow all our people to stay near and go far.

“We have a once in a generation chance to create a future that is by the North and for the North.  Our voice has never been louder and together we stand ready to work with this government to drive growth and create the bigger and better economies our communities need.”

Published on Monday 9th September