A regional daily has won a national award for its role in a campaign which united newspapers across the North of England.

The Yorkshire Post has been unveiled as the winner of the regional Making a Difference award, run as part of Journalism Matters week, for its work on the ‘Power up the North’ campaign.

The Leeds-based Post triumphed following a public vote which ran from Monday to Wednesday.

More than 30 newspapers across the North came together last June to launch the campaign, aimed at tackling the North-South divide.

Accepting the award in a post on Twitter, James praised other industry figures including Reach plc chief audience officer David Higgerson and Manchester Evening News editor-in-chief Darren Thwaites for their work on the initiative.

He wrote: “Humbled by this but must stress that it was far from just a YP initiative.

“Couldn’t have happened without the efforts of David Higgerson, Darren Thwaites and their teams as well as fellow JPIMedia editors, friends and partners from across the North.”

In a piece published in Saturday’s Post, James said: “It feels somewhat ironic that Power Up The North should be recognised as the campaign to have made the most difference in the week when northern leaders were left in the sidings as the government briefed its favoured London media about planned lockdown restrictions destined for the North.”

“On more than one occasion I have received compliments on the campaign and the subsequent shift in political rhetoric – Levelling Up Agenda – that it catalysed but it is quite clear that there remains so much work still to do if we are to make a real difference.”

He added: “It is clear to me that until we have a fully fledged Ministry for the North, in the North, led by a Cabinet Minister, we will continue to be marginalised and stereotyped by policy makers as a post-industrial wasteland.”