Episodes
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Our friends at the Manchester Evening News have taken over the Northern Agenda podcast today, sharing their reaction to Andy Burnham's by-election victory in Makerfield.
Daniel J. McLaughlin is joined by the MEN's political writer Iram Ramzan and local democracy reporter Declan Carey to discuss the result, what it means for Greater Manchester, and what we can expect for the Labour Party and Reform UK in the near future.
Photo: Getty Images
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Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy joins Rob Parsons on a special episode of The Northern Agenda to discuss why she thinks the North is the perfect destination for the Olympics.
The Wigan MP chats to Rob about regional inequalities, the Makerfield by-election, and reacts to Andy Burnham's thoughts on the state of the Labour Party.
Candidates in the 2026 Makerfield by-election:
Liberal Democrats - Jake Austin
Count Binface Party - Count Binface
Labour Co-op - Andy Burnham
Libertarian - Dan Clarke
Independent - John Dyer
Climate - Ed Gemmell
Independent - Paul Gould
Monster Raving Loony - Howling Laud Hope
Reform - Robert Kenyon
Independent - Robert Pownall
Restore Britain - Rebecca Shepherd
Green - Sarah Wakefield
Rejoin EU - Peter Ward
Conservative - Michael Winstanley
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Missing episodes?
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Fiona McCudden is joined by Manchester Evening News reporter Stephen Topping and Northern Agenda editor Graeme Whitfield in the morning after Hannah Spencer's victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
They discuss how the Green Party won their first ever by-election, the anger felt toward Keir Starmer and the Labour government, and whether it would have made a difference if Andy Burham would have been allowed to run for the Greater Manchester seat.
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On a special edition of the Northern Agenda podcast, Rob Parsons is joined by Beth Abbit of the Manchester Evening News to reflect on a hustings for five of the candidates hoping to be the next MP for Gorton and Denton.
The hopefuls were quizzed on issues like British values, child poverty, immigration, Andy Burnham and even their favourite Oasis song during an hour long debate at the office of the Manchester Evening News.
What were the big talking points for the candidates: Conservative Charlotte Cadden, Matt Goodwin of Reform UK, Jackie Pearcey of the Liberal Democrats, Green Hannah Spencer and Labour's Angeliki Stogia?
Rob and Beth - a constituent in Gorton and Denton - discuss what they learned from the hustings and how the three-horse race is so hard to predict ahead of the vote on February 26.
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Government Minister, metro mayors, journalists and political advisors all gathered in orange hi-vis jackets at a rail depot in Leeds today to hear an announcement by Rachel Reeves they hope will be a game-changer for the North's transport links.Leeds MP Ms Reeves has promised the Government will set aside £45bn to pay for Northern Powerhouse Rail, the project designed to speed up rail links between the North's big cities. But after so many broken promises, does anyone in the North believe it will actually happen?On a special edition of the Northern Agenda podcast, Rob Parsons speaks to the Chancellor about why this project is personal for her and what it will mean for the North's economy.Rail Minister Peter Hendy explains what the announcement will mean for the North's commuters - and are metro mayors Andy Burnham and Tracy Brabin happy with what they've heard?
The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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The Northern Agenda podcast goes on location this week, broadcast from the home of the Liverpool Echo as Labour party conference comes to town.Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp are joined by Jo Timan of the Manchester Evening as they assess a 'flat', 'anxious' and 'confused' annual gathering of the party faithful, dominated by Andy Burnham's antics and the looming spectre of Nigel Farage's Reform UK.As Keir Starmer makes his big conference speech, Liam has an instant verdict on whether it will be enough to turn round Labour's dismal poll ratings.Plus, Rob picks up a freebie that makes him look like a dad on holiday...and why are two new towns destined for the North of England neither towns nor very new?
The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp. The podcast is produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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The Westminster circus is preparing to descend once again on the Liverpool docks as Labour holds its annual party conference at the city's big convention centre.It'll be five days of political debate, speeches and drinks events for the Labour faithful. But as Keir Starmer tries to rouse his troops and get his stuttering premiership back on track, there's a shadow being cast by a certain Scouse-accented metro mayor and King of the North who may well just steal the limelight.Will this year's Labour conference turn out to be the Andy Burnham show? Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp discuss it with one of the country's most successful and best-connected political journalists, Patrick Maguire, who as well as being chief political commentator at The Times is a native of nearby Southport.Patrick will be appearing at the Ilkley Literature Festival on Sunday 19th Oct at 1:15 pm to talk about his book 'Get In: The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer', described as a blistering exposé of the most significant and ruthless political transformation in a generation. More details here.
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Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp are back discussing the week's political news from a Northern perspective and there are some big questions to answer.As Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell compete to succeed Angela Rayner, does the next deputy leader of the Labour party really need to be a woman from the North? Why is Reform UK planning to axe Northern Powerhouse Rail? And what on earth is the matter with the boxer Tommy Fury?
Plus: as the national debate on immigration becomes ever more toxic, Liam tells us about his conversations with asylum seekers in Liverpool who've risk their lives to come to this country.
The Northern Agenda is presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp. The podcast is produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin, and the episode artwork is by Graeme Bandeira.
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This week, Rob Parsons speaks to Jim McMahon, a Northern politician at the heart of Government.In the Commons this week - before her tax affairs become engulfed in controversy - Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner made the case to MPs about what she described as "the biggest transfer of power in a generation out of Whitehall to our regions and communities" and an end to "the begging bowl, micro-managing culture".She's talking about Labour’s English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which will give more powers to existing mayors and see two-tier district and county councils replaced with one body.Why should we care about this legislation tinkering under the bonnet of our democratic system?
This week on the podcast Rob asked Mr McMahon, one of Angela Rayner's team of Ministers in charge of Local Government and Devolution, as well as being an MP in Oldham. He's a former leader of Oldham council too so knows all too well the challenges local politicians face.Mr McMahon talks about how these changes are fundamental to Labour's mission in government, what he says about worries they will allow power to be hoarded away from communities, and whether he'd force areas like Lancashire to have a metro mayor.
PLUS: Why he's forcing councils like Sheffield to abandon their committee system of government and what he thinks of Reform UK's decision in Nottinghamshire to ban any communications with their local paper.
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Dr Rebecca Whittington is the online safety editor for Reach, the UK and Ireland's biggest commercial publisher.
Since 2021, she has helped journalists across the country who are receiving online abuse, helping them to develop measures for social media to try and prevent further harassment.
The Yorkshire-based journalist launched a new podcast 'Go Doxx Yourself' in July, which unpicks the human stories behind cyber nightmares.
Rebecca tells Northern Agenda editor Rob Parsons the stories she has heard so far on the podcast, and tips on how to improve your online safety.
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A few weeks ago on a visit to Leeds, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said there was "something really special" about the health ecosystem in the city - which boasts more NHS England and Department for Health staff than anywhere outside London.
But the ambitions of health bosses in Yorkshire's biggest city go further still. A few days ago its hospital trust set out a new strategy to cement its position as the UK's largest research powerhouse outside the traditional so-called Golden Triangle of life sciences in London, Oxford and Cambridge.
Targeting a 40% increase in research activity by 2030, it's hoped the five-year research and innovation strategy will achieve a host of other goals, namely improving health outcomes, tackling health inequalities and driving economic growth.
On the Northern Agenda podcast this week, Dr Chris Herbert, Director of Operations for Research and Innovation at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, tells Rob Parsons about the pioneering work its researchers are already doing, the North-South divide on research funding and how he wants underserved communities in Yorkshire to feel the benefit from the new strategy.
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Rob Parsons looks at a story playing out in the North that sits squarely in the middle of two huge issues Keir Starmer and the Labour government want to be judged on at the next election: economic growth and the net zero agenda.
In the coming days the Hull-based firm Vivergo Fuels will find out whether it has a viable future, or whether it will have to start the process of laying off its 160 employees because of the impact of this year's trade deal signed between the UK and Donald Trump's USA.
But there's a huge amount at stake not just for the company and its staff, but thousands more workers in the supply chain, and also the future of the growing biofuels industry - essentially turning living matter into fuel - which has the potential to bring lots of jobs and investment into many areas of the North.
Rob speaks to Vivergo's managing director Ben Hackett, who says the decision made by the Government over whether to support his company will have huge implications for our farmers and even our ability to fill up our cars at petrol stations.
The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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For a lot of football fans around the country, the season is getting under way this weekend. But in South Yorkshire and on the Lancashire coast, two sets of fans will have a very real sense of trepidation that their clubs are about to disappear.
Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe don't have much in common in terms of their football histories, but are both in dire financial trouble and face sanctions from football authorities.
Rob and Liam talk to Liverpool academic and football accounting expert Kieran Maguire about how two Northern clubs were left teetering on the brink and what it tells us about modern football.
Plus Rob has an awkward encounter with an AI version of a Northern MP. And Liam tells us about the rather rude email he had from a BBC Newsnight viewer after he appeared on the show this week to talk immigration.
The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. The image is by Northern Agenda resident cartoonist Graeme Bandeira.
You can read all of the latest newsletters from The Northern Agenda here.
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There's still several years until we're likely to get another General Election, but it's no longer a stretch to consider the possibility of Nigel Farage as Prime Minister and Reform UK as the ruling party.
Until very recently however, we had precious little evidence of how and what Reform would actually do in power, since they had very little experience of actually running anything.
All that changed in May though, as the party swept to victory in a host of local and mayoral elections across the North and nationwide, putting them in charge of local councils and metro mayoral authorities.
How have they been doing since - and what lessons can we draw from Reform UK locally about what they would do if put in charge of the country?
To find, Rob Parsons speaks to journalists from the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme:
Paul Faulkner, covering Lancashire County Council
Bill Edgar, covering Durham County Council
Andrew Spence, covering Hull and East Yorkshire's mayoral Luke Campbell
The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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This week, Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp digest the big news that could get us closer to the truth about the violent clashes between police and striking miners four decades ago that are still a source of huge anger in parts of our region even now.
Plus Liam tells us about his trip on the new form of transport that's been gliding about the streets of Liverpool.
And there are some worrying new stats that show for all of Labour's warm words about tackling child poverty, things in many parts of the North are still going in the wrong direction.
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With Oasis' Manchester gigs the talk of the town, even senior politicians like Commons Leader Lucy Powell can't resist making groan-inducing puns about the Gallagher brothers' classic songs.
But with the five Heaton Park concerts generating tens of millions of pounds, how can we ensure the wider community benefits? And Liam tells us about his Oasis experience standing in front of Boltonian icon Vernon Kay.
Elsewhere, after the tragic death of a child in Liverpool from measles, why are fewer and fewer families in some parts of the North getting vaccinated against this potentially deadly illness?
And we'll be having a look at what Reform UK are up to in County Durham, where having taken over the local council a few weeks ago Nigel Farage's party has now cancelled the 'climate emergency' declared by a previous administration six years ago.
Rob and Liam are joined this week by Sarah Longlands, who's based in Manchester and is Chief Executive of The Centre for Local Economic Strategies.
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It's hard to believe a law that came into effect 200 years ago is still in force today. And on the podcast this week, Liam Thorp explains why the repeal of the cruel Vagrancy Act - which dates back to 1824 - can't come soon enough.
Rob Parsons looks into why university leaders are trying to persuade the Government about the vital economic impact international students have on towns and cities in the North of England - and why there could be a lot at stake if they don't succeed.
And as Liam heads off to watch Oasis at Heaton Park, Rob ponders whether he should adopt a new nickname inspired by rap sensation Pitbull.
The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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This week we're marking exactly one year since Keir Starmer and Labour won the 2024 General Election. But what's the last 12 months of a Labour government meant for the North, has Sir Keir lived up to his promises or have things just got worse?
That's what Rob and Liam are discussing on this week's episode, as they reflect on the good and bad of Starmer's first year (including some policies they definitely won't be talking around down the Dog and Duck in Beverley).
Plus: How much is Andy Burnham's bus network in Greater Manchester actually costing? And how did one Yorkshire spa owner turn a mortifying social media faux pas into an opportunity?
And Liam tells us how his Liverpool Echo colleagues covered the tragic breaking story about the death of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota.
The Northern Agenda is Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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With Liam Thorp off this week, Rob Parsons spends today's episode looking into one of the perennial bugbears of politicians across the North: potholes.
They're a big issue for voters - and the new Labour government has told local councils they must publicly report on what they're doing to keep our roads fit for driving by June 30 or risk losing their share of an additional £500 million of funding.
In this episode of The Northern Agenda Podcast, we’ll explore what this means for councils, the road maintenance industry, and the communities that depend on well-maintained local roads for driving, cycling and catching the bus across the North.
Rob talks to Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood about the thinking behind the new policy and gets the industry perspective from Newcastle-based David Jobling-Purser, vice-chair of the Road Emulsion Association.
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Why are so many private hire taxi drivers in the North of England licensed in Wolverhampton - and what's that got to do with the grooming gangs scandal?
Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp have a Northern take on this week's big report into child sexual exploitation in this week's Northern Agenda podcast as they take a look at the big political stories across the region.
There's also the fascinating case of the Merseyside man who successfully won a court battle to avoid paying his licence fee because he doesn't watch any live TV. Is this a sign of how our viewing habits are changing?
And Rob has a very niche suggestion for what Sunderland council ought to have called the city's new footbridge after getting residents to help come up with a name.
The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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