As political and business leaders meet for the Convention of the North, our position is clear: we need a genuine new deal, and soon

Whenever the next general election comes, two things already seem clear: it will be unlike any we have experienced before, and it will be won or lost in the north of England. This is the new political reality of 2025.

We need to face up to it fully now and start preparing the ground for a campaign that won’t be a traditional choice from the lineup of the main parties but of two fundamentally different worldviews. The stakes are extraordinarily high.