GM mayoral candidates to be quizzed online

Results from Trafford, Liverpool, Bolton, Stockport, Wigan, Knowsley, Wirral, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury…

A disastrous night for the Liberal Democrats triggered a change of MP in several North West constituencies as voters swung to Labour and Conservative.

Details of the appointment process for Greater Manchester’s interim mayor have been confirmed as Lord Peter Smith, chairman of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and leader of Wigan Council, and police commissioner Tony Lloyd vie for the role.

Fifty Liverpool business leaders and the vice chancellors of the city region’s four universities have sent an open letter to the leaders of the three main political parties calling for a commitment to ensuring the city gets a direct link.

As expected with the General Election so close, this Budget contained few surprises and contained no spectacular giveaways, says Jane Parry, lead tax partner at PM+M.

While the Help to Buy ISA announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget is expected to ease the financial strain on first time buyers, housing experts are asking whether it will further increase the national housing shortage.

Budget 2015 was always going to paint the rosiest picture possible with the looming spectre of the general election (there’s one on the way, in case you hadn’t heard), writes Stuart Stead.

As Manchester’s 16th outing to MIPIM in Cannes drew to a close, Place North West met with Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, to talk powerhouses, devolution, and the importance of the city’s presence in Cannes.

Manchester and Liverpool both took their biggest delegations ever to the property conference in Cannes, with more than 100 partners between them heading to the sun for what some called "the property industry fresher’s week".

Senior representatives from the five core cities across the North of England came together for a debate about the importance of connectivity, graduate retention, developing sector specialisms and potential tax incentives.

The General Election in May is "the most important election for Liverpool, ever" following the impact of budget cuts on the local authority, says Mayor Joe Anderson.

Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, called the current transport planning approach "woefully weak" as he and Liverpool leader Mayor Joe Anderson laid out their priorities.

“In England, devolution is now unstoppable”, according to Lord Michael Heseltine, but the communication between local and central government needs to improve in order to make it work.

Greater Manchester is aiming to secure control over the total amount of public investment in the region, estimated at £22bn a year, according to Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, opened MIPIM UK this morning calling for "more convergence between London and the rest", as ministers met to discuss greater spending powers for big cities.

Cllr Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, spearheaded the English core cities’ call for greater fiscal and decision-making powers today at a GVA-hosted summit in London.

Government has announced two new technical schools for the North West aimed at filling skills gap in priority sectors; Crewe University Technical College and a Studio school at Deyes High in Sefton.

Local Enterprise Partnerships will be able to bid for money to boost their work in the regions from a £2bn-a-year new Single Local Growth Fund announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the Spending Review on Wednesday.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson is lobbying Government to prevent hundreds of millions of pounds of European funding being lost in the next round of ERDF.