Exclusive:Rachel Reeves: Labour will bring growth to the North through investment, devolution and reform

But the Conservatives wouldn’t listen, too obsessed with the Whitehall-centric power grip they had on all corners of our country.

They thought they knew better than the people with genuine skin in the game, the local leaders embedded in their communities with the expert knowledge of what is needed to fix the public services, deliver better jobs and more opportunities for the people in their area.

They overlooked what our regions have to offer to our country’s future. They squandered time, money and good faith on promises they couldn’t deliver on and empty slogans with no substance.

Today, I’m proud to be the first Chancellor to address the Great Northern Conference, where I will set out how this Government is doing things differently.

We have promised to deliver economic growth that people can feel. This isn’t growth in a spreadsheet or on a graph, this is pounds in pockets and the jobs of the future that will power our country.

We will do this through investment, devolution, and reform, following a Budget that has wiped the slate clean and kicked off a transformative period for our economy – a plan to fix our public services, record investment in infrastructure and a devolution agenda that transforms how decisions are made in this country.

Central to that is giving mayors greater control of their budgets. It means single, flexible funding pots and more powers for them to take charge of their own plans for growing their local economy, because they know their areas best.

We are not wasting time on this agenda. We have already made great progress on ramping up devolution. Our £240 million Get Britain Working plan puts power and money in the hands of local areas so they can build the workforce they need to grow their economies.

And a package of support at the Budget for the North means the wheels have already been set in motion for securing long term regional growth, better connectivity and greater opportunity in places like Yorkshire and the Humber.

The TransPennine Route Upgrade will give the region the connectivity any economy needs to grow while up to £520m for the new Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund will benefit the area’s thriving life sciences sector, creating more good jobs with better pay.

And I want regions to be at the heart of our National Wealth Fund. It is headquartered in Leeds – but that is not enough. It has a strong regional objective to unleash the full potential of our cities and regions, including working in close partnership with Mayors to help them attract investment.

We have made a good start. But there is plenty more to do.

The beauty of this devolution mission is the prize on offer for the North - good jobs, better pay and more opportunity on our doorsteps.

Rachel Reeves is the Chancellor of the Exchequer and MP for Leeds West and Pudsey. She will be speaking at The Yorkshire Post’s Great Northern Conference today at 4.45pm.