Chancellor allocates £7m to explore northern England Olympic bid

This week chancellor John Healey set aside £7m in the budget to fund an assessment of a potential Olympic bid for the north of England, and UK Sport’s detailed feasibility study is not due until 2029. The government says the preliminary work will feed into a more comprehensive assessment intended to consider hosting in the 2040s.

The proposal gained momentum after a group of northern mayors sent a letter in February to culture secretary Lisa Nandy requesting the Games be brought north; three months later Nandy declared, “It’s time the Olympics came north,” and announced an initial assessment. Tokyo and Paris each spent more than £50m on their bids, a figure cited to underline the scale of future costs compared with the £7m allocation.

Former Olympic bantamweight champion Luke Campbell, now Reform UK’s mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, welcomed the funding and described the initiative as “a legacy worth aiming for,” adding: “I’m proud to be working with other northern mayors and leaders to get this idea taken seriously.” Campbell has also faced a police investigation into allegations he denies that he showed naked pictures of himself to a female member of staff.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has been working toward a return of the Games to the capital for the past five years, his office consulting the IOC and developing plans to reuse 2012 venues to create “the greenest Games ever.” Khan has lobbied both Conservative and Labour governments on that campaign and said on the 10th anniversary of the London Games: “The great thing to remember is the power of sport,” adding, “It’s above party politics, it’s above north versus south.”

Organisers and politicians acknowledge a north–south dynamic in English sport stretching back to the Victorian era, when some of the earliest fixtures were contested between North and South teams in football, cricket, water polo and draughts; rugby union also staged North v South games before the code split. Proponents of a northern bid frame the proposal in political terms, citing regional disparity and initiatives ranging from the failure of levelling up to devolution ambitions and branding such as No 10 North and Pride in Place.

Specific venue allocations remain speculative: suggestions such as swimming in Sheffield, modern pentathlon in Manchester and table tennis in Teesside are being discussed but, as the article notes, “remains, for now, entirely moot.” Supporters argue the feasibility work targets voters who value outside investment and regional infrastructure as much as the fortnight of sport itself, and some backers have even raised the prospect of associated transport projects, including a long‑promised high-speed rail line.

Local sporting traditions and cross‑regional fixtures continue to be invoked in the debate. A planned all‑star football match at the Valley last year, with the North managed by Robbie Fowler and the South managed by Harry Redknapp, did not take place, while England lacrosse has revived a North v South fixture this year after a four‑decade hiatus.

UK Sport’s detailed feasibility study is scheduled for delivery in 2029, and the current £7m allocation is intended to support a full assessment that would inform any decision about pursuing a bid aimed at hosting the Olympics in the 2040s.