Four rival dailies have united to demand the government gives their region a ‘fair deal’ on devolution.

The Bolton News, Manchester Evening News, Oldham Evening Chronicle and Wigan Evening Post – all owned by rival regional publishers – launched their Fair Deal Devo campaign today.

The campaign, timed to coincide with the Tory conference in Manchester, aims to get Chancellor George Osborne to give Greater Manchester £7bn more to aid devolution.

Further demands include fair police and council funding, Northern transport projects being prioritised by the government, and an accountable, open system of governance.

The front page of today’s MEN

Just under £1bn of the cash would also go towards improving healthcare in the region to tackle its “scandalous” mortality rates, in what the campaign says is “literally a matter of life and death”.

The remainder would be used to expand the Metrolink tram network, create jobs and take more powers over skills, council tax, stamp duty and air passenger duty.

The Bolton News is owned by Newsquest, the MEN by Trinity Mirror, the Oldham Evening Chronicle by Hirst, Kidd and Rennie, and the Wigan Evening Post by Johnston Press.

All four editors of the newspapers have given their own take on why the bid is so important.

Rob Irvine, MEN editor in chief, said: “Devolution of power to Greater Manchester must be properly and fairly funded, otherwise it will fall way short of its enormous potential. And the process has to be transparent and engaging with the people who live here and who will be voting to select our mayor.

“These are the key issues our four news organisations will be working together to address over the coming weeks, months and years.”

David Whaley, managing editor of the Oldham Evening Chronicle, said: “We cannot see everything sucked into the core that is Manchester and we also have to agree that this is not about getting one tenth of everything every time but instead seeing improvements that help the region as a whole.”

Ian Savage, group editor of The Bolton News and Bury Times group, said: “As we get nearer to devolution for Greater Manchester, it is vital that we explain to our readers how it will affect them and that we push for transparency and hold the process to account.

“Obviously, from my point of view, the people of Bolton and Bury are our prime focus as the local newspapers, but it is crucial that Greater Manchester as a whole gets its fair share, which will in turn affect all the towns in the county.

“It may be an unusual move, but it is great to be joining forces with other strong regional newspapers to show how important this is for the whole of the county and that we will be pressing hard as one for a fair deal.”

Janet Wilson, editor of the Wigan Evening Post, said: “Regional devolution ought to be a tremendous opportunity for the people of Wigan and Greater Manchester.

“The north/south divide is one of the longest-standing iniquities in this country and handing back power to local government leaders sounds like it might go some way to rectifying this.

“But if the government is serious about building a Northern Powerhouse, it must be backed by the right resources.”