Poverty isn’t just a Northern issue Andy.

[SummerSummerSummertime]

Caught the Prime Minister on a podcast this week and he’s really stuck on a constant, hyper-focus on the North. Ok we get it, things are bad up there (former industrial heartlands etc) but as PM for the whole country, he needs to remember that hardship doesn't stop at a regional border if he wants to maintain national support.
Severe deprivation is happening right across the country, not just in northern heartlands:

London: The capital holds some of the highest actual poverty rates once astronomical housing costs are factored in.

Coastal Communities: Southern seaside towns face deep, hidden deprivation, low wages, and crumbling infrastructure.

The South & Midlands: High living expenses, struggling high streets, and insecure work hit low-income families everywhere.

He also claimed on the podcast that past governments just saw the North as "different" and forgot about it. But by constantly banging on about the North, isn't he just fuelling that exact same fire?
If he keeps treating the North as a special case, he's actively reinforcing a regional divide. Moving focus or power from Whitehall to Manchester might sound great on a podcast, but it does absolutely nothing for a struggling family in a southern coastal town who feel just as invisible to this new government as they did to the last one.
Poverty is a national crisis, not a regional identity.

If Andy wants to keep broad support, his messaging needs to acknowledge and support struggling communities everywhere.

Yet his record in Manchester was abysmal… not sure that needs spreading across the country.

Mainly because Airmiles Andy then reverts to type and his tiresome professional northerner rhetoric immediately afterwards.

Again, utter rubbish. London and the south east are the only two regions of the country which contribute more in tax revenue than they receive in funding. They are subsidising everywhere else already and have done for decades. They receive far LESS funding per head than they would if regional administrations were properly devolved with local taxes spent locally.

Shared out? So not creating wealth for yourselves then, but expecting more subsidies from the areas that have been subsidising you already for decades and are already paying the highest tax rates ever during peacetime.

We hear the message loud and clear. That’s exactly the problem that hasn’t dawned on Airmiles Andy yet, but will when he and Healy have to produce a budget in the autumn if they think people in the south have any capacity or willingness to make even larger donations to the north than they do already.

Exactly. He is incapable of speaking without mentioning it.

I remain unconvinced that being a good mayor and being a good PM requires the same skillset. I thought Boris Johnson was a terrible PM but actually rather good as Mayor of London. I am still undecided on Andy but he really needs to stop with the Northern focus now he's in charge of the whole country.

Actually, the percentage of PMs from London constituencies over the last 100 years is slightly overrepresented compared to the proportion of the UK population that lives there, and for the SE. There is far larger overrepresentation of MPs from Welsh constituencies being the UK PM more than from any other region of the UK per head of population, by a very large margin.

The North West, North East, and West Midlands of England and Scotland are pretty close between proportion of PMs and proportion of UK population so have nothing to moan about (although a sad minority of those occupying these areas seem to have irremovable shoulder chips so still seem to find excuses for their endless and unjustified bitterness, apparently impervious to data).

The East of England, South West of England and East Midlands of England and Yorkshire and the Humber have cause for complaint, having been underrepresented in the number of PMs returned from those regions per head of population.

Northern Ireland has by far the most reason to complain, having had no MP of a constituency in the region being UK PM in the last century at all.

Isn’t “Airmiles Andy” Andrew Mountbatten Windsor? It’s going to get very confusing if there are two. Pretty unfair as well given the original is a sex offender. Maybe you need to find a new baseless insult @BlackSwansWearDoveFeathers.

No. Equal v equitable.

He’s not only been the mayor - he’s held multiple cabinet positions too

Seriously listen to the podcast I mentioned in the op. It’s very informative - he does come across as a good guy, if a little obsessed with “The North”

Early Career

• Worked as a political researcher and adviser in Westminster
• Administrator for the NHS Confederation
• Special adviser to Tessa Jowell (1998–2001) 1, 2, 3, 4]

Political & Government Career

• Member of Parliament for Leigh (2001–2017)
• Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department(2005–2006)
• Minister of State for Delivery at the Department of Health (2006–2007)
• Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2007–2008)
• Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (2008–2009)
• Secretary of State for Health (2009–2010)
• Shadow Secretary of State for Health (2010–2015)
• Shadow Home Secretary (2015–2016)
• Mayor of Greater Manchester (2017–2026)
• Member of Parliament for Makerfield (June 2026–present)
• Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party(July 2026–present

This is really interesting thanks. Pretty impressive CV.

Agreed. His account of his Dad’s dementia and wanting to change our social care system was really moving though I thought.

Yes, that presser was a masterclass in effective political communication.

Except that, as the OP points out, there is more to representing the needs of the whole country than focussing on the North/South formulation. It's not a binary ---that's the point, so the men versus women comparison doesn't quite work.

Have you heard the podcast? He was asked about his own upbringing and life experiences, so of course he spoke about the North. And what exactly is so wrong with being proud and passionate about the place you come from?

The vast majority of people in the country - whether they are from the North or the South have far, far more in common with a so-called “professional Northener” than they do with the Old Etonians, the Chipping Norton set or the sons of stockbrokers who have dominated politics for years.