For the next few weeks there's really only one story in town politics-wise and that's the 2024 General Election - the one that seems to have been on the horizon for months but in the end came quite unexpectedly with an announcement by Rishi Sunak in a rain-drenched Downing Street. Since then it's been a non-stop flurry of campaign stops, photo opportunities, social media blitzes and behind-closed-doors selections as political activists go hell-for-leather to boost their prospects ahead of the big day on July 4. There's no shortage of great analysis of the election but Rob Parsons wanted to get a really Northern perspective on what's happening and find out about some of the contests you might not be hearing about in the national media. He's joined by three of Reach Plc colleagues keeping an eye on politics across the North: Liam Thorp from the Liverpool Echo, Joseph Timan from the Manchester Evening News and Graeme Whitfield, editor for the Journal in the North East. Find out why the ITV debate from Salford was massively frustrating, the seats to watch in Northern England and why there should be ice cream for hungry journalists on all campaign stops. And can we make some dad jokes about Taylor Swift? *** Northern Agenda is a Laudable production for Reach. This week's episode is presented by Rob Parsons, and produced by Celeste Adams. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices