London is one of nine defined English regions. With its new, city-wide authority established from spring 2000, and proving popular and successful, the question obviously arose as to whether other English regions should also enjoy the benefits of devolved powers. The case for devolution to the English regions was given added impetus both by the successful devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales and by the long-standing commitment of John Prescott. While in opposition before the election victory of 1997, he had commissioned work on the case for regional authorities in England, broadly following the European model where regional tiers of government are widespread and generally seen to be effective. Indeed, among the various European regional government models the German Länder, put in place largely at British instigation in the aftermath of the Second World War as a counter to the re-emergence of an over-mighty national German state, were seen as among the most successful models of sub-national governance in Europe. In the 1997–2001 Parliament, John Prescott’s department had overseen both the creation of the GLA and the introduction of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to promote economic growth and development in all English regions. Following the 2001 general election, when he was initially in charge of the Cabinet Office (although in summer 2002 he returned to his former department, now renamed the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister – ODPM) he gave a clear steer that one of his top priorities was the extension of regional devolution in England.

The 2001 Labour Party manifesto had made a commitment to offer the opportunity of a devolved regional assembly in those English regions that demonstrated support for it through a referendum. This recognised that the appetite for regional devolution varied from area to area. Indeed, in some parts of the country there was little sense of regional identity. The South East, for example, covered a wide range of counties, both north and south of London, extending from Kent at one end to Buckinghamshire at the other. Apart from their proximity to London, there were few common interests across such a diverse area to suggest a need for them to have a single regional assembly. Other parts of England, particularly in the North, felt stronger common bonds.