Northern Olympics campaign to get £7m in Healey’s budget

Fund will support feasibility study for potential bid to host Games in 2040s, backed by northern mayors and top athletes John Healey is to announce a £7m fund to examine a potential future bid to host the Olympics in northern England in his first budget as chancellor. The fund will be used to carry out a full feasibility study for a northern Games, which, if successful, would be held in the north of England in the 2040s. In May, before Andy Burnham entered No 10, the government commissioned an assessment by UK Sport which could inform a bid for the international sporting event in the 2040s.

If the campaign were successful, it would be the first time the Olympic Games and Paralympics were hosted in Britain since London 2012. There was further momentum behind the idea in June when mayors from across the north of England met in Sheffield to discuss the possibility of a northern Olympic bid. More than 40 Olympians, Paralympians and elite athletes, including Laura Kenny, Jason Kenny, Sarah Storey, Beth Tweddle and Tom Pidcock, have signed a joint