Next year will see the 20th anniversary of Campaign for Yorkshire, established to make the case for elected regional government in Yorkshire and part of the wider devolution settlement for England. I left my university post to be Director, which led to setting up Campaign for the English Regions and supporting other northern campaigns.
The failed North East referendum managed to kick most of this into the long grass but not for as long as some thought. Ironically it has been the Conservatives who have breathed life into this again with (largely talk of ) Northern Powerhouse and City-Regions giving us elected mayors in several large cities.
Sheffield – or rather South Yorkshire – was offered the opportunity of a city mayor several years ago but the last two years have seen major scraps between both authority leaders and between two visions of whats the appropriate settlement – either Sheffield City Region of a One Yorkshire solution.
For my part I have consistently said that in governance terms the wisdom of creating a body that covers South Yorkshire instead of a Yorkshire-wide deal seems lacking. But more importantly this is NOT the devolution we campaigned for in the noughties. This is just tinkering. The ambitions for the city regions have been articulated but not how they fit into the wider constitutional jigsaw. The missing piece is the clearly articulated the case for devolution or the right and appropriate constitutional settlement for a modern 21stcentury UK.
And this is why I will be supporting Dan Jarvis in his bid to become mayor because I know he gets it. I was at the IPPR North event in 2015 when Dan Jarvis argued that the ‘devolution debate represents perhaps the greatest opportunity to remake the State and empower people for a generation’. And I know through conversations I have been having with him for the last 4 or more years that his commitment to a proper devolution settlement is genuine.
I will also be supporting Dan for another issue close to my heart. For the last few years I have been actively involved with Sheffield’s Fairness Commissions campaign “Our Fair City”. Whilst this has stalled of late the early initiatives of Our Fair City singled out Sheffield as a pioneer in turning ambitions to address inequalities into something tangible and real. Dan Jarvis is one of the few MP’s who came to me to discuss the possibilities of replicating this in Barnsley – and I hope as the new City Region mayor will breathe life into this again.
We live in a far from perfect world. The delay in getting a resolution in Yorkshire has not been helpful and we should have seen more candidates come forward ( and yes, keeping Richard Caborn off the short list was ludicrous).
Neither are these the devolution deals many of us would have chosen – devolution sadly cannot wait for the election of a Labour government – but while imperfect, do create an opportunity to talk about devolution more broadly. Dan of the two candidates has clearly articulated a case for a better solution and settlement and that is why he has my vote. I hope he will have yours.
#Danstheman
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