So, farewell Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry.

Parking politics (as I always do) I have to admit I admired what he did during his two-and-a-half-year tenure.

As the longest-serving minister in a role created to ensure the North’s socio-economic needs and ambitions are towards the top of the Government’s very busy agenda, he has certainly left a legacy for Cumbria.

He played a crucial role in helping to secure the whopping amount of funding awarded to the Borderlands Growth Deal.

The UK Government stumped up the vast majority of the £394.5 million war chest now at the Borderlands partners’ disposal – £265m to be exact.

Taking nothing away from the councils involved, and of course passionate champion John Stevenson MP, he helped ensure the Borderlands windfall was ‘brilliant’ not just ‘good’ – to steal the words of Northern Powerhouse Partnership chair George Osborne when he challenged those involved to work together for a greater good and not just their own constituent parts.

A regular visitor to the county, he put his significant clout behind countless projects and pushes for investment. Carlisle Lake District Airport, the city’s £102m Southern Link Road, so crucial to helping deliver St Cuthbert’s Garden Village, improvements to roads such as the A595, a stop for the city on the HS2 line, which will hopefully now be delivered – the list goes on.

You could see his desire for progress in his eyes, as much as through his words and actions.

But for me, devolution could be the biggest legacy he leaves for Cumbria.

Mr Berry was the one who called the summit to knock heads together and start what will hopefully be a journey towards greater powers being handed to the county – control over decision-making, control over funding and, most importantly of all, control over Cumbria’s destiny.

And he was the one to put a very specific deadline of May 21 for a new local government model to be in place.
It was a smart move. It helped focus the minds of some people who may have been tempted to bog down the whole process, as happened in 2016 when a previous devolution deal collapsed.

Devolution simply needs to happen in Cumbria. Businesses want it and need it. The people of Cumbria need it, in particular our young people if they are going to see long-desired improvements in their lives and life chances.

Now our council leaders need to be willing participants in the process.

I understand Mr Berry’s approach was far from ‘gun to the head’ but more pragmatic – well, more pragmatic than others may have been when faced with herding Cumbria’s political kittens.

He could well have played a blinder and look back at the meeting with a great deal of satisfaction when, as I think we all hope, devolution finally happens.

On a personal level, I – and I’m sure many others – also have to respect the reasons why he left a post that he truly made his own with his energy for fighting the North’s corner after some rather tepid attempts by his predecessors (anyone remember their names?).

He turned down the opportunity for a role in the Foreign Office because it would entail a significant amount of travel and take him away from his most important duty of being a husband and father to three children under three – with the youngest being just a week old.

Mr Berry’s departure came during a dramatic and chaotic day for the Government. We lost and quickly gained a Chancellor and Business Secretary.

Almost all of the departures – willing or forced – came with some element of controversy as Boris Johnson shuffled his pack in order to take an iron grip on things.

The revelation that the Northern Powerhouse minister will no longer sit in cabinet meetings was the eyebrow raiser for me. And it is a worry.

That position was a real feather in the cap for the North. We had a strong voice at the heart of this country’s decision-making machine.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps may have been given special responsibility for promoting the Northern Powerhouse at cabinet level, but I’d rather have the minister responsible for driving the North’s agenda around the table (plus, given his challenging role, I suspect Mr Shapps is rather busy).

We can only hope that voice is not diluted, and that the new minister’s clout is not curtailed.

The Government owes a huge amount to the North, given it was voters in Cumbria and across the region who helped put them into power with a clear majority. It could be that the North’s needs are now so ingrained in Mr Johnson’s thinking that the postholder doesn’t need to be there. I think our PM appreciates which side of his bread is buttered.

Now all eyes are now on new minister Simon Clarke and what he will do in this key role. 

But credit where it is due – Mr Berry did a huge amount for Cumbria. We could all end up owing him a huge debt of gratitude.