London now has a mayor and its own minister while the North continues to struggle

To add insult to injury Andrew Percy, the MP who never wanted to serve as a minister, has been given the role of Northern Power House minister

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (C) holds her first Cabinet Meeting at Downing Street, in London July 19, 2016

(Reuters)

In addition to having a Mayor, London has now been given a Minister for London. This comes as a blow to the North, especially considering the after-thought appointment of Andrew Percy as the new Northern Power House minister.

One can imagine that there was a panicked selection of a Northern candidate to fill the role judging by the Yorkshire MP’s comment upon accepting the role: “I’ve never chased a ministerial job… However, we do live in somewhat bizarre times.”How can Northern cities and towns look to Andrew Percy for leadership when he doesn’t seem particularly interested in serving as a minister.

Is May putting the Northern Powerhouse project out to pasture? From its inception Osborne’s project was nothing more than rhetoric. When it came to the crunch, the money and political drive to build a Northern Powerhouse was nowhere to be seen. Osborne found £14.8bn for London’s Crossrail, but the bank was empty when it came to the Trans Pennine Electrification. Between 2010 and 2014, London created jobs at twice the speed of the rest of the UK, and four times the speed of the North East.

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Theresa May on Corbyn

The political and economic situation in the North of England is stark. Northern schools are disproportionately failing; nine of the top ten “low wage, high welfare” cities are in the North of England and the Midlands; and ten of the twelve towns and cities in the worst economic decline are in the North.

In the wake of decades of reducing funds from London, cities like Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, and Newcastle have embraced the European funding that helped rebuild Britain’s industrial centres. Their citizens voted to Remain. They have prospered in the face of staggering local government cuts; their success has been in spite of Osborne, not because of him.

Many in the North voted to leave the EU, plenty saw the referendum as a stick to beat the London metropolitan elite with. In doing so, they have unwittingly stripped the cities straining to power the Northern economy of major European funding and opportunities.

I am proud to be from a Northern city. I see everything here that is required for a successful economy: creativity, hard work, brains, ingenuity and bloody-mindedness. Now it is up to May to demonstrate genuine political will, not patronising slogans; spending money where it really matters; and devolving serious decision making powers. Appointing a junior MP, and so few Northern MPs in the Cabinet, does not fill me with confidence that she will deliver where Osborne failed. I hope, for the sake of a coherent, and successful Britain, I am proven wrong.