The Northern Agenda
The Northern Agenda is a weekly podcast covering politics and public affairs from across the North of England, voiced by journalists who are outside the Westminster bubble, reporting from the other side of the North/South divide.
From Blackpool to Barnsley and Bamburgh and everywhere in between, exploring subjects such as levelling up to buses, elections to the latest council scraps, The Northern Agenda brings you discussion and analysis of the North's big political stories, from people experiencing them on the ground.
Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp look at the political stories that really matter to the North - and from the North - that you won't hear about from the national media in London.
The Northern Agenda is a Laudable production for Reach. It is presented by Rob Parsons, and it is produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
You can subscribe to the daily Northern Agenda newsletter here: http://www.thenorthernagenda.co.uk/
26
Reaction to the Labour party conference in Live...
Rob is joined by Jo Timan and Ethan Davies, chatting about the rain-soaked conference vibes, Keir Starmer's personal speech, money worries for the Manchester to Liverpool train line and Lisa Nandy's love of Britney Spears.
32 min
27
Will Labour really deliver for the North? | Lea...
New Labour MP Josh Sumons delivers his thoughts on replacing the levelling up agenda and the cutting of the winter fuel allowance for many pensioners
57 min
28
Nasty individuals, racists and useful idiots | ...
Northern Agenda interviews with political leaders in Rotherham and Cleveland about the summer riots
32 min
29
๐ถ Women failed from the day they're born | Joe ...
A new very hard-hitting report finds that women in the North of England live shorter lives, work more hours for less pay, are more likely to be an unpaid carer, and more likely to live in poverty
34 min
30
Thinking outside of the box: how embracing neur...
Corporate psychologist Tina Catling tells the podcast about her innovating work and how she sees Yorkshire as "a little sanctuary"
34 min
31
The Northern Agenda on the road: Clitheroe in t...
Rob Parsons heads to Clitheroe to chat to locals about why the area's doing so well, the one thing that's worrying locals and intriguingly, why, if everything's so great, the area has just booted out its two Conservative MPs in favour of Labour politicians at the last General Election.
63 min
32
York and North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith on ...
Rob Parsons is joined by the first elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire, and two researchers who spent five days in pubs in Bolton to hear what kind of things punters talk about.
33 min
33
What the future holds for our town halls after ...
Find out why we're expecting this year to be the toughest yet for setting town hall budgets, how our national housing crisis could be solved if the rest of the country was like Leeds and Manchester, and how the North keeps the lights on in London.
40 min
34
Is TransPennine Express on the right track for ...
On the Northern Agenda this week, Chris Jackson tells Rob Parsons how work is going on giving the North's rail passengers the service they need and deserve, plus exciting news on the UKโs first intercity battery train.
31 min
35
Matt Vickers: the last remaining Tory MP in the...
The Stockton West MP speaks to Rob Parsons about how he managed to defy the odds, what it's been like as a Tory MP since returning to Parliament and what the near Tory wipeout means for Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen.
46 min
36
๐ Alarming Vital Signs in the North East
Rob Parsons takes a look under the bonnet of the North East of England, a region with so much going for it but with issues like poverty, economic inactivity and bad health continuing to plague it for decades.
48 min
37
From Wearside to Westminster: what's it like to...
Newly-elected Sunderland MP Lewis Atkinson talks about his first few days in Parliament
42 min
38
Rishi, Binface and me: election night in North ...
Hear Rob's dispatch from election night, where he speaks to some of the quirkier candidates including an intergalactic space traveller called Count Binface and the hopefuls from Labour and Reform UK.
25 min
39
Why voters in the North are so disillusioned by...
With three days to go until voters go to the polls, Rob Parsons reassembles a panel of top political journalists to hear what's happening at local level across the North of England
25 min
40
Northern election rivals taken to task
Five hopefuls go head-to-head in Newcastle as July 4 General Election approaches
67 min
41
Will Orgreave miners get the truth after 40 yea...
Violent clashes during the 1984-5 miners' strike are back in the news
38 min
42
The hidden poverty in Rishi Sunak's leafy Yorks...
Rob Parsons visits Richmond and Northallerton to find out if voters are still backing the PM
28 min
43
General Election 2024: A view from the North
Rob Parsons speaks to political journalists from the North to find out how the General Election is playing out in their patches
29 min
44
Levelling Up: How is it going so far?
The North in Numbers takes over the podcast this week, with Annie Gouk speaking to local leaders, policy experts and academics to find out how itโs going.
27 min
45
๐๏ธ ๐ The city that shaped the modern world
Rob Parsons chats to Brian Groom, author of a fascinating new book about Manchester, a city whose recent economic growth and gleaming skyscrapers attract envious glances from many parts of the North, even if they wouldn't admit it publicly.
42 min
46
๐ฑSmart phones 'destroying our children' | Where...
Rob Parsons speaks to South Yorkshire MP Miriam Cates, and a former Yorkshire headteacher whose school introduced an effective ban on smart phones
41 min
47
Having a mayor - what now for the North's new p...
This week as the new mayors got back to work after the elections Rob Parsons speaks to one of them, South Yorkshire's Oliver Coppard, about why he's prioritising transport in his second term.
43 min
48
Sunak's silver lining: Live from Tees Valley as...
Rob Parsons hears from the winners and losers in the mayoral race, as well as reports from counts across the North
27 min
49
Local elections 2024: the ones to watch | How c...
This week Rob Parsons focuses on the parts of the country where millions of us live - the so-called coalfield or ex-mining communities - and find out what the future holds for them.
34 min
50
Which political story should we be paying more ...
Plus Rob Parsons discusses the regional inequalities when it comes to vulnerable going into care in the North
48 min