Experienced journalists Michael Taylor and Chris Maguire have launched a new political podcast to give a greater voice to the North.
The pair are both former editors of North West 老九品茶 Insider and have joined forces with Manchester-based agency What Media to produce the 鈥楴orthern Spin鈥� podcast.
The hosts say the weekly 30-minute podcast will聽provide insight into current affairs, politics and a bit of business, but from a uniquely Northern perspective.
Maguire, who is the executive editor of 老九品茶Cloud and sister website TechBlast, said: 鈥淚 love political podcasts but they鈥檙e very London-centric and we felt there was a gap in the market for one that focused on the North.
鈥淲e鈥檝e heard a lot about the Northern Powerhouse and Levelling Up but the Northern voice is only attracting a cursory mention in Westminster.
鈥淲e have a new Prime Minister, we鈥檙e a maximum of two years away from the next General Election and the so-called 鈥楻ed Wall鈥� seats in the North will go a long way to deciding the outcome. That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e launched Northern Spin.鈥�
Taylor, who describes himself as a 鈥榡ournalist and politico鈥�, works as the political聽advisor to the Labour Group on Stockport Council, and has recently completed a Masters thesis on Metro Mayors: 鈥淭he key to Northern Spin will be the insight we can provide into what Northern leaders, like Mayors, are doing to genuinely deliver change, fairness and prosperity for the North.
“The North is a hotbed of ideas, innovation and progress. It isn’t a problem for Westminster to solve, but can be an active part of the聽solution to so many challenges.”
Until last year Taylor worked as Head of Regional Affairs at Manchester Metropolitan University where he co-convened the MetroPolis think tank to connect Northern academics with policymakers.
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“I was attracted to the idea because Chris and I are actually quite different. Sure, we’re a couple of white blokes who worked for the same company a decade ago, but while I’m firmly centre-left, Chris is more of a conservative with a small 鈥榗鈥�.
鈥淎lso, while I鈥檓 an actual natural-born Northerner, Chris is adopted.”
The pair planned to launch the podcast in the week Liz Truss was appointed Prime Minister and considered delaying it after the death of the Queen.
Maguire said: 鈥淲e both understood the enormity of the passing of Queen Elizabeth and decided to rip up the running order and devote the beginning of the show to her memory. That鈥檚 the beauty of podcasting.鈥�
You can listen to Northern Spin on Spotify by clicking .