I will call Keir at 10.01 on election night to make sure the North gets what it deserves

Liverpool leader Rotheram eyes future under Labour

- ANDY LINES

WHEN Tony Blair won power back on that magical night in 1997, Steve Rotheram was a "brickie in Kirkby", his hometown on Merseyside.

Today, as he looks forward to Keir Starmer achieving a similar election triumph for Labour, Steve is the Liverpool Metro Mayor and has power and influence - which he intends to use.

He says: "We're trying to schedule a call into Keir for one minute past 10 on election night." And what he will demand of the Labour leader is action to tackle the North/South divide that, despite the Tories "levelling up" rhetoric, is wider than ever after their 14 years in government.

He says: "The differential between the North and South here is worse than it was during reunification in Germany. So the divide that has happened over the last 14 years is now worse.

"That's just mind-blowing. After the reunification of East and West Germany, they put a tax on the West Germans that was used for the East German side to bring them up to the same sort of levels."

In his 13th-floor office overlooking the a decent deal for the North.

Pointing to the docks, he says: "That port once traded more than 50% of the world's trade.

We were pioneers in this part of the country. If the government had been serious about levelling up, they would have funded things here, the same as happened in the decades.