He’s arguably already the most high profile politician in the north of England - but Andy Burnham apparently has longer term ambitions.
Speaking at a launch of a major new report into the regional inequality, the Greater Manchester mayor joked about a future kingdom north of the ‘blue wall’, with him ruling it from a castle at its heart.
He made the quip at the unveiling of the UK 2070 Commission’s review into widening divides in England - a study that looks 50 years into the nation's future and warns radical change is needed.
“The 2070 thing is something I’ve always struggled with,” Mr Burnham told the audience before moving on to more serious comments about the state of regional inequality.
“Have you ever had that moment when you think how old will I be in 2070?
“Well I will be 100. I definitely expect to still be around - in fact I’ll be sitting in my Game of Thrones type castle at the heart of the dominant Northern Powerhouse, opening my birthday telegram from the monarch of the south of England.”
North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll, who was in the audience, ran with the theme.
“If Andy’s going to be on the Iron Throne and King of the North, then coming from Newcastle that makes me King of the Wildlings,” he responded.
The exchange came at the launch of the UK 2070 Commission’s report into regional inequality, headed by former home civil service head Lord Kerslake.
Both he and Mr Burnham called on the Prime Minister to sign up to a ten-point declaration in the report, which would commit to a range of aims covering major inequalities from housing to devolution, transport and skills.
The mayor said the report marked ‘our moment’ in British politics, telling the audience in MediaCity: “It’s true, I’ve waited all my political life for a report like this and it’s finally here.
"It was always going to need a former head of the UK civil service to shock Whitehall out of its London centricity and I feel that this finally be the moment when that happens. It does feel like a landmark day.
"I say this to the PM and the government: this is what a real blueprint to level up the country looks like.
“Let’s get cross party support behind it and let’s get on with the job.
"There is no escaping the fact that there’s a seismic shift needed in power and resources if we are to release the full potential not just of the north of England but all of the regions.”
As the M.E.N. has reported previously, the commission identified huge and growing gaps between the economy in London and the South East - warning in its first report last summer of a divide mirroring that found in Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
It combs through almost every aspect of public policy, arguing a radical structural change is now needed in where and how Britain is governed.
Mr Burnham said the government’s plan to ‘level up’ was ‘a vague phrase so far’, with the most deprived parts of the country - particularly in the North and Midlands - having in reality been ‘levelled down’ by austerity over the past decade.
Reversing that had to be about more than new transport infrastructure, he said, adding: “Promises of new train lines two or three decades away are not going to change the reality for people now, who have had a tough decade.
"Many people have been levelled down by the pressure of austerity and they need a lot of help.”
The mayor admitted he sometimes feels ‘a little anger’ about northerners being ‘second class’ citizens, but that more than that he felt ‘pride, passion and positivity’ about the North’s future.
If I put aside my family and friends and all my thoughts there, the greatest wish I have in life is to see the North of England rise up in the next few decades," he concluded.
“To begin to show what it is capable of, to no longer be held back.
"If the last five decades have been the story of decline, I want the next to be the story of progress, of human progress, of the north fulfilling its potential.”
Promising to sign the declaration, he called on leaders - and potential leaders - of all parties to do so, adding: “I would also ask the Prime Minister to put his name and the government’s name on this today.”
Downing Street has been asked whether the Prime Minister will do so but has not yet responded.
