Brigg and Goole MP quits as North Minister

The Brigg and Goole MP said he had been asked by Theresa May to continue in the post following the general election but decided to leave government.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Jake Berry was appointed to vacant role at the Department of Communities and Local Government and said he would have the Northern Powerhouse title.

Writing on Facebook, Mr Percy said: “Was a privilege to be asked to continue serving in my role in Government as a Minister, but I have reluctantly decided to step down and leave the Government.

“I thank the Prime Minister for offering me this role again but I have decided to pursue other challenges. She continues to enjoy my full support from the back benches.”

He added: “My work as our local MP continues unchanged.”

Prior to the calling of the snap election, Mr Percy had indicated he would quit the Commons in 2020 when the Brigg and Goole seat was expected to disappear under proposed constituency boundary changes.

But he chose to run again when Mrs May decided to go to the polls in an election that was contested on the existing constituency boundaries.

He was comfortably returned in the seat he has represented since 2010 with a majority of more than 12,000 votes.

Mrs May’s commitment to pursuing the Northern Powerhouse idea has repeatedly been questioned since she took office and fired then chancellor George Osborne, who coined the idea in a speech three years ago.

His departure was followed weeks later by Lord Jim O’Neill, a longstanding advocate of devolution to the North who had been invited into government by Mr Osborne.

But Chancellor Philip Hammond looked to remove doubts over the Government’s commitment to closing the North-South divide when he published the Government’s Northern Powerhouse Strategy last November.

Ed Cox, director of the IPPR North thinktank, said: “Ministers will come and go, but the weight of the North’s £300bn economy continues to gather momentum despite Westminster whims.

“In the North, the votes in 2015, 2016 and 2017 have one thing in common: Northerners have each time snubbed the ‘Westminster option’. Miliband, Remain and now Theresa May were rejected by Northern voters who want to see real change.

“Now more than ever, we need a Council of the North in a new federal UK, able to make vital decisions for itself such as on international trade and economic development, and to give a voice to the North during Brexit negotiations.”