With Labour well ahead in the polls and the party's policies being blamed for the UK's current economic turmoil, it promises to be a challenging party conference for the Conservatives in Birmingham this weekend.

And this week on The Northern Agenda podcast, Rob Parsons speaks to John Stevenson, the new chair of the Northern Research Group which represents the region's Conservative MPs.

The Carlisle MP tells us how he hopes the levelling up agenda can be reconciled with Liz Truss's enthusiasm for tax cuts, and what he needs to hear if his fellow 'red wall' Conservatives have any chance of getting re-elected in the next election.

Rob also speaks to Steve Rotheram, the Labour metro mayor of the Liverpool City Region, after a conference where Sir Keir Starmer promised a clean energy revolution. What will his plans mean for existing schemes on Merseyside?

And we get the thoughts of Jon Walker, deputy political editor at the Sunday Express, on how the two main parties are faring during conference season.

The Northern Agenda is a Laudable production for Reach. It is presented by Rob Parsons, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.

You can subscribe to the daily Northern Agenda newsletter here: http://www.thenorthernagenda.co.uk/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices