Geraint Hughes
Sports News Correspondent
Olympics in north of England? Government approves UK Sport assessment of 'multi-city' bid in 2040s
The Government have approved UK Sport to assess a bid for the North of England to host the Olympic and Paralympic games in the 2040s; The Games have been held in London three times but nowhere else in the UK; The North is overdue prominence on the global stage, says Lisa Nandy MP
Last Updated: 16/05/26 8:18pm
A bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the North of England in the 2040s is being planned by the Government after it authorised UK Sport to begin a feasibility study.
London last hosted the Games in 2012, but any UK bid in the 2040s would be for a multi-city North of England Olympic & Paralympic Games.
London has hosted the Olympics three times - in 1908, 1948 and 2012 - but nowhere else in the UK has. Manchester failed with a bid to host the Games in 1996 and also in 2000 where the city came third in the bidding process, when Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Olympics.
A potential 2040s bid in the North of England comes as the current UK Government believe for too long any northern bid was doomed to fail as only London was seen as big enough and important enough to host the 'Greatest Show on Earth'.
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Culture, Media & Sport Secretary of State Lisa Nandy MP told Sky Sports: " For a long time the North of England has shown amazing ability to put on some of the best sporting events not just in the country, but in the world.
"We've produced world-class athletes, people like Keely Hodgkinson and so many others, but we've been told over and over again that when it comes to the Olympic Games it's just not for us.
"We don't accept that as a government, so today we're firing the starting gun on an Olympic bid for the North of England in the 2040's.
"We think it's long overdue and it's the North's turn.
"It's a vote of confidence from us in the North of England. We saw what London 2012 can do for the country and we believe that it's time to bring the Olympics home to the North of England and show the world what we can do."
'We can put on one of most incredible Olympics that world has ever seen'
While traditionally an Olympics & Paralympics are hosted by a single city, the plan for a potential fourth Games on UK soil is not based in one city, but rather several.
"Manchester is an enormous asset to us in this, but we believe that there is potential for the Olympic games to be shared across other sites as well, said Nandy, who described Everton's new Hill Dickinson Stadium as a "world-class facility".
Nandy added: "We're looking at multi-city sites across the north of England as part of our bid and obviously we're talking to all of the key players in this starting with the British Olympic Association, but the IOC and others about it.
"We've seen in other areas like football how multi-city events can be not just be really, really positive for fans, but a huge boost to so many parts of this country and in other countries in the world.
We've already got great infrastructure across the North of England. I was recently at the new Everton Stadium, which is a world class facility. (There is) work going on in Leeds at the moment about regeneration there. The North East has enormous potential that's been overlooked for far too long.
Lisa Nandy
"When we host Euro 2028 we'll be welcoming people from all over the world to several sites across the country and similarly when the World Cup kicks off it'll kick off across the USA, Mexico and Canada so we know that this can be done.
"We think that by working with the whole of the north of England who are already coming together and working as a team in so many areas, bringing together the Mayors of all of the major city regions we think that we can put on one of the most incredible Olympics that the world has ever seen."
Given the current Labour Government has just endured some of the worst local election results in their history, it is fair to ask whether this 'good news' story is nothing more than a gimmick to deflect attention away from the Government's problems.
This is an assertion Nandy rejects. "I want to be really clear with you - We want to do this as a government," she said.
"This is not us saying we'll have a look and see whether we think that it's possible, we're looking at how we can do this, not whether we can do this.
"It's about scoping out what we're going to need, what infrastructure we're going to need, what changes to planning law, what public transport, what investment and funding and resources we're going to need and what political goodwill and support we're going to need as well.
"We're asking the public to come in and play their part. We want people to get behind this bid so that when we go out to launch we're ready and we can show the world that we stand united as one country, believing in the north of England, believing that it's time for the Olympics to come home and knowing that we can pull off a really spectacular bid and Olympics in the 2040s.
"We will not hesitate to pull every lever that we can to help people with the cost of living in these really difficult times, but people deserve the right to be able to enjoy great sporting moments and great sporting success."
