Starmer told North East can 'lead UK in offshore wind' as mayor pushes for investment

At the inaugural summit in Edinburgh, North East mayor Kim McGuinness told the Prime Minister that the region can “lead the way in offshore wind for the UK”.

The Labour mayor pledged during her election campaign to create thousands of highly-skilled, well-paid jobs in the green energy and offshore wind sectors, promising the development of a Mayoral Development Corporation across the rivers and ports of Tyneside, Sunderland, Seaham and Blyth.

The new Labour Government is now being asked to throw its weight behind the plans, ahead of the expected publication of a new national industrial strategy and an International Investment Summit next week.

After the meeting with first ministers and other metro mayors in Scotland, Ms McGuinness said: “Today the Prime Minister heard how the North East can lead the way in offshore wind for the UK. Our offshore industry is growing, it is a national asset – and that means more jobs for the North East.

“I’m the daughter of a shipbuilder, I know how important those jobs were to our North East identity. Now I want jobs in offshore wind to be as totemic to the region as coal mining and ship building.”

After the summit, the Prime Minister said the meeting had moved the UK “a long way down the road” towards more jobs and investment.

According to the PA news agency, Sir Keir dodged questions about the absence of his former chief of staff Sue Gray – who had been appointed an envoy to the nations and regions after her departure from the top Downing Street post.

The PM said:  “For everybody listening and watching this, who’s concerned to know, is there going to be investment in my region? Are there going to be jobs where I live? The answer is, today, we’ve got a long way down the road of collaborating to that end.”

Ms McGuinness also raised the vision from mayors from around the North of England to come together under the ‘Great North’ banner to unleash the area’s economic potential. Those plans were announced last month, ahead of the Great North Run.

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She added: “Myself and other northern mayors updated the Prime Minister on our ambition to come together and generate more growth, create more jobs across the North. It’s a project the PM backs and in the coming months we’ll be setting out further plans for a Great North working together.”

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was in Newcastle to lead a meeting of a new Mayoral Council held at the Common Room.

That came amid claims of tension between regional leaders and the Labour Government, with a report in the i newspaper quoting one anonymous mayor as accusing the Treasury of hoarding power and using mayors as a “mechanism for delivering their national plan”.