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The north of England is seeking to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games to boost a region “left out of the national story”.
Northern leaders have written to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, urging the government to back a multi-city games spanning an area with a population of 15 million people.
Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, said last year he wanted the capital to bid for the 2040 Olympics, which would come nearly 30 years after it hosted the 2012 Games.
Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, said on Sunday it “wouldn’t be fair or right” for London to host for a fourth time, and that a northern bid was “what Britain needs right now”.
Sir Brendan Foster, the former 3,000m world record holder and founder of the Great North Run, said a northern games was vital for a “fairer distribution of major international sporting events across the country”.
He added: “Obviously iconic sporting occasions like Wimbledon, Royal Ascot, Lords Test matches and the London Marathon are rightly celebrated in the nation’s capital, but when the government is financing hosting global sporting events, they should have a balanced national approach as their guiding principle.”
In a letter signed by 11 political leaders across the north, Nandy was told that a northern games would be a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to accelerate regeneration, rebalance the economy, and reset international perceptions of England”.
Mayors believe they are in strong contention for a 2040 bid after the International Olympic Committee prioritised a move towards multi-city events. They also hope Keir Starmer will see the political benefit of a northern games as his party trails by an average of 10 points in the polls to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which is making significant inroads in Labour’s former heartlands.
Nandy, the MP for Wigan, has prioritised the distribution of cultural events across the UK, but her department would not be drawn on Sunday on whether it would back the northern bid. A spokesperson said it was a decision for the British Olympic Association.
The former Olympic boxing champion Luke Campbell, who is the Reform UK mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, said: “Winning gold at London 2012 is one of the proudest moments of my life. The whole country came together as one, and it meant everything to me to represent our nation on the world stage – and show that someone from Hull can go all the way.
“Bringing the Olympics to the north isn’t just about sport. It’s about giving our kids something to aim for, creating real opportunities and showing the world what this part of the country has to offer.”
Mayors said the north’s mix of sporting heritage – which includes the home of football, Sheffield, where the game’s original rules were written in 1858 – and its elite venues made it the ideal host region.
Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region, said a northern games would mark a “once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring the Olympics closer to ordinary communities that have too often felt like they’ve been left out of the national story”.
Should the north be successful, political leaders would be careful to avoid the complex and costly legacy of the London Games. The 2012 Olympics cost nearly £8.8bn – three times the original budget of £2.4bn – and turbocharged the gentrification of neighbourhoods.
Research published in 2024 described the London Games as a “cautionary tale” for local communities.
