To support levelling-up and the post-COVID-19 recovery the Northern Policy Foundation (NPF) is being launched, based in the North and run by Northern voices, to generate pragmatic One Nation policies with impact.
It’s Parliamentary Council will be made up of new Conservative MPs from mainly Brexit voting and ‘Blue Wall’ seats. The NPF will be run by Tom Lees - formerly Global Head of Corporate Affairs at £2bn construction consultancy Mace and staffer to two Cabinet Ministers - and Dr Sean Worth who is a former Number 10 policy adviser and previously ran the Conservative Party Research Department.
Our research and work will focus on developing pragmatic and impactful policy interventions and analysis that will help the North to flourish and lives to be improved - particularly in the context of a post-COVID world.
In particular our programme of work will focus on five policy areas:
- Opportunity
- Innovation and R&D
- Health and Wellbeing
- Connectivity
- Values
Members of the Northern Policy Foundation’s Parliamentary Council are:
- Alexander Stafford, MP for Rother Valley
- Scott Benton, MP for Blackpool South
- Dehenna Davison, MP for Bishop Auckland
- Nick Fletcher, MP for Don Valley
- Katherine Fletcher, MP for South Ribble
- Imran Ahmad Khan, MP for Wakefield
- Mark Logan, MP for Bolton North East
Alexander Stafford, MP for Rother Valley said:
“Ever since my election I have promised to do what I can to level up for Rother Valley. Now is the time to rebuild and re-shape the North to provide more and better opportunities for local people, tackle poor health outcomes and poverty, bolster and support science, innovation and R&D and to ensure the North’s economy comes back stronger after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overcoming centuries old disparities and levelling-up will be a challenge, but with the right policy interventions and support from central government I know my fellow Northerners are up for the challenge and making real progress.”
Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, said:
"Levelling up the country and ensuring opportunities are spread right across the UK and the North is a key commitment of the Government.
I welcome the creation of the Northern Policy Foundation, its aims and the work and research it plans to carry out."
