102. God’s own country

Leeds! Sheffield! Bradford! Huddersfield! This podcast has, figuratively speaking, not spent enough time in any of them.

So, this week we’re off to the ancient county of Yorkshire, Britain’s largest, home to the biggest metropolitan area in England not to have its own devolution deal, to discuss God’s Own Country.

To help me out, I’m joined by two Yorkshire-expats of my acquaintance, Halifax’s James Ball and Hull’s Jasmine Andersson. We talk about Yorkshire geography and identity, why the place feels ignored, and what it needs to thrive.

Also, this week sees the first of a new regular segment, in which we ask the Centre for Cities’ chief executive Andrew Carter to explain something about cities and cities policy. We’re calling it “Ask the expert”, so no pressure.

This week, in keeping with our theme, I’m asking: why doesn’t West Yorkshire have a mayor?

Skylines is the podcast from the New Statesman’s cities site, CityMetric. It’s hosted by Jonn Elledge.