The newly unveiled Manifesto for the North promises to drive long-term sustainable growth and unlock new opportunities for the region. Yet, on closer inspection, the focus remains disproportionately urban, leaving the North’s rural communities overlooked. Despite grand ambitions centred on Net Zero, transport, trade, and investment, the manifesto offers little to address the unique challenges faced by rural areas.
At the heart of the manifesto is a vision of the North leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with a focus on digital technologies, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence. This is framed as a significant opportunity for the region to power Britain’s future growth. However, the focus is clearly on urban hubs such as Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool, where these technologies are more likely to be implemented. For the North’s rural regions—from the Pennine Dales to the farmlands of Northumberland—the document is thin on specifics. These communities, already grappling with limited infrastructure and digital connectivity, are left questioning whether the promised revolution will even reach them. A point in reference: the “manifesto” does not mention the word “rural” at least once.
Transportation lacking
Transport infrastructure is a clear example of this urban bias. The manifesto rightly identifies the North’s connectivity issues but focuses almost entirely on improving rail links between major cities. The vision of a transformed transport system is one that primarily serves metropolitan areas, where public transport networks are more extensive and investment is likely to yield faster returns. For rural areas, where buses are infrequent, roads are under-maintained, and rail links are practically non-existent, the lack of attention is stark. Without significant investment in rural transport, many of these communities will remain isolated and excluded from the economic growth the mayors outlined in their speech and document.
In terms of energy, the manifesto lauds the North’s potential to lead the green energy transition, highlighting industrial decarbonisation and renewable energy clusters. Yet, this focus is again on urban or industrial areas. Rural regions, which already host a significant share of the North’s renewable energy infrastructure—whether it’s wind farms, solar power installations, or bioenergy plants—are only mentioned in passing. The manifesto offers little detail on how these rural areas will benefit from the investments being promised for energy infrastructure. Moreover, the opportunities for job creation in rural areas linked to green energy developments remain vague, leaving local economies uncertain about what this transition means for them.
Inequality has been massively overlooked
Health inequality, another critical issue raised in the manifesto, is framed predominantly through the lens of urban deprivation. While it is true that northern cities suffer from poor health outcomes, the rural health crisis is barely acknowledged. Rural communities face distinct challenges, including poor access to healthcare facilities, long travel times to medical services, and a rapidly ageing population (more than urban counterparts). These well-known factors exacerbate existing disparities, yet the manifesto offers no clear plan to address healthcare infrastructure in rural areas. Without attention to these needs, the health divide between rural and urban populations in the North will only deepen.
Devolution is another area where the rural-urban divide becomes apparent. While the manifesto pushes for further devolution of powers, the discourse is on metropolitan mayors and city-region governance. The smaller, often underfunded, councils that manage rural areas are at risk of being left behind in this process.
Moreover, with greater powers concentrated in urban centres, rural communities may struggle to secure the investment needed to address their specific challenges—whether it be maintaining local services, improving transport links, or upgrading digital infrastructure. Again, searching the official document, “Cumbrian” gets only one mention, as evidenced below.
Action plan without rural?
“The North is at the forefront of the devolution agenda, with six well-established Mayoral Combined Authorities and four further devolution deals struck within the last couple of years. Meanwhile, local government reforms have gradually consolidated governance across the North, notably with the establishment of the Cheshire unitary authorities in 2009 and the 2023 establishment of the Cumbrian and North Yorkshire unitary authorities.”
Whilst the “Manifesto for the North” sets out a bold vision for the region’s future, it overlooks the diverse needs of its rural communities. Disappointingly, the focus on urban growth, high-tech industries, and metropolitan infrastructure risks exacerbating the rural-urban divide, which FERN has written about extensively since 2020.
For rural areas to thrive, they require targeted investment in transport, healthcare, and digital infrastructure, as well as recognition of the vital role they play in the North’s economic and environmental future. As it stands, the manifesto falls short of providing a truly inclusive roadmap for the North, leaving rural communities to wonder whether they will benefit from the region’s promised renaissance and appears to be the Labour leadership’s counter offer to the former Conservative-led government’s “Northern Powerhouse” and “Levelling Up” agendas.
This article was also published on the FERN website.
