No one is too small to make a difference.

Greta Thunberg

Yorkshire In A Federal UK

Liberating Yorkshire is a practical example of how to build a Federal UK.

it begins when neighbours or communities — such as LGBTQ+ groups — come together to raise their concerns about the area
they respond with their own dreams and plans for what the area could become
their local council develops its policies from this shared community voice
as concerns and neighbourhood responses snowball across different areas, they impact higher and higher levels of decision making
Yorkshire gradually takes control of its own destiny within a Federal UK

It’s a people-led, participative democracy that strengthens Yorkshire and contributes to a better country for everyone.

Why Yorkshire?

A Federal UK begins with real places and real people. Yorkshire offers both in a way that feels honest and rooted — a place where community still means something and where people understand the value of looking after one another. It’s a region large enough to matter, yet closeknit enough for people to feel the impact of making their own decisions.

Yorkshire’s Natural Beauty

Yorkshire is home to some of the most remarkable landscapes in the country — the Dales, Moors, Wolds and dramatic coastline, along with the rivers, valleys and wild spaces that shape daily life. These places inspire pride, creativity and a deep sense of belonging. They are part of what makes Yorkshire unique, and part of what we protect as we liberate our region.

Yorkshire’s strength, however, isn’t just its scenery — it’s in its people.

Yorkshire’s Identity

Yorkshire’s identity has been shaped by movement and migration for centuries. People have come here from many places — early settlers, industrial era workers, long established Irish and Jewish communities, Eastern European families who have made Yorkshire their home, and communities from across the Commonwealth, including those with roots in India and Pakistan. Each has brought new skills, traditions and ideas, enriching our food, arts, festivals and everyday life. Migration isn’t a modern phenomenon — it’s how Yorkshire became Yorkshire.

Yorkshire’s Challenges

Yorkshire’s staple industries have collapsed. Secure work has been replaced by low paid jobs. Multinationals have taken profits out of the region, and national policies favour already wealthy areas such as the South East. Still, Yorkshire keeps going. Communities look after each other. This resilience is why Yorkshire is the right place to show how a regional government could work.

Beyond Devolution

Power to the People

Transferring power to the people is at the heart of Yorkshire’s liberation — a future where decisions are made closer to home, with real accountability and shared responsibility. Across these next four sections, we show why the current system falls short, how a fairer and more participatory model can grow from the ground up, and begin to imagine what a future regional constitution for Yorkshire could look like.

Beyond Devolution

Yorkshire’s combined authority mayors have already shown what local leadership can do — better transport, support for local businesses, and investment in skills — and they’ve done this while working inside a system that keeps most real power in Westminster. They’ve shown both the possibilities and the limits of working with only part of the toolkit. Now imagine what Yorkshire could achieve if our mayors had greater autonomy to act, free to make decisions without waiting for Westminster, no longer held back by a devolution model that stops short of real self government.

Where Power Sits

“Sovereignty” is the technical term for where real power sits — who has the final say over the decisions that shape our lives. Historically, sovereignty has flowed from the Crown and Parliament, allowing governments to change course without public consent. We are suggesting a change: a fairer system that shares final decision-making with the public through clear, trusted, community-led processes. If Yorkshire is to shape its own future, the question of where power sits becomes unavoidable.

A New Structure

We believe that Albert Einstein was right when he said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we use when we created them”.

This is why we are proposing a new democratic structure for Yorkshire. From neighbourhoods and communities, priorities rise into town and city councils. Local concerns begin to join up and form shared priorities. Those councils then feed into the four mayors, giving them a clear and grounded mandate. It makes sense to form a Yorkshirewide authority that can pull all these different strings together at a regional level and represent Yorkshire on the national and international stage.

Bottom-Upwards

Building from the bottom-up matters because decisions are strongest when they grow from real life, instead of top-down political ideology. Each level gains strength from the one below it, carrying people’s priorities upward through a structure they helped shape. What emerges from this process stays rooted in lived experience, ensuring Yorkshire’s future is built with its people at the centre.

A Shared Future

Questions and Answers

Sometimes the questions people ask are really just the things they’ve been carrying for years — the doubts, the frustrations, the “aye, but…” that never quite get answered. So, we’ve put a few of them here, in the same way we’d talk to you over a brew or a pint. Straight, honest, no fuss. The Yorkshire way!

People round here couldn’t give two monkeys about what happens in the area, so how do you expect them to do as you say?

People round your way don’t stay out of things because they’re daft or lazy. They stay out because, for decades, nothing they’ve said has made a blind bit of difference. When a system ignores you long enough, you stop wasting your breath.

So, we’re not asking you — or anyone else — to “do as we say”. We’re suggesting a new system that gives you real power over the things that shape your daily life: housing, transport, jobs, land, and local services. And it does this in a way that’s simple, practical, and worth your time.

In our experience:

When people can see a way to make something better on their street, they show up.
When they’re listened to, they stay.
When they can point to something that’s changed because of them, they take pride in it.

How are you going to make the politicians, MPs, councillors and all that, listen to what we tell ’em?

You don’t make politicians listen by shouting louder. You make them listen by changing the rules of the game.

Right now, even though your councillors are local, and often do their level best, their hands are tied by Westminster. Most of the money, powers, and decisions still sit hundreds of miles away. By the time anything reaches Yorkshire, it’s already been decided elsewhere.

We’re suggesting a new system where:

You and your community set the priorities, not party HQs.
Your budgets and decisions are made in the open, not hidden in committee rooms.
Your elected representatives must respond to what you decide, because the structure requires it — not because they feel like it.
Your power is shared, not hoarded.
And all of this is written into a proper, legally binding constitution — something we have never had before.

A written constitution means the rules can’t be bent, ignored, or quietly changed. It forces politicians to work with the decisions you and your neighbours make. It protects your local power no matter who wins the next election.

And here’s the bit most people don’t realise: Many councillors and MPs would actually welcome this. They’re tired of being blamed for things they can’t control. A Yorkshire with real, constitutional powers helps them do their job better too.

So we’re not relying on goodwill. We’re building a Yorkshire where listening to you isn’t optional — it’s guaranteed in writing.

I’m not from Yorkshire but live in Sussex — how does this apply to me?

This site isn’t just about Yorkshire. It’s about showing that ordinary people like you, wherever you live, can have real power over the decisions that shape your life.

What we are attempting to do here is just one example of how a written, local constitution can work in practice — where communities set priorities, budgets are open, and politicians have to listen.

You can build the same kind of system where you live. Sussex, Cornwall, Cumbria, Birmingham — anywhere. Every region can move in its own way, on its own terms, at its own pace.

This is part of a bigger shift toward a Federal UK — a country where your region has guaranteed powers, written down, protected, and respected.

If you want to see how this fits into the wider picture, you can read more at Union of Equals.

Get Involved

We invite you to get involved in our campaign – Here is how you can:

Share your Ideas

Tell us what really matters to you.

Share your Ideas

Next Gen

Be part of our in-person and online gatherings.

Next Gen

Newsletter Signup

Stay connected as the movement grows.

Signup

Make a donation

Click Here to Donate

A Shared Future

Liberating Yorkshire is part of a wider story. It explores what a Federal UK could look like from an English regional perspective — rooted in Yorkshire’s identity, but carrying lessons far beyond our own boundaries.

Our sister site, the Union of Equals, looks at the same future from the national level. It sets out how a Federal UK could work across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England’s eight regions, showing how local and national renewal can move together.

Learn more at Union of Equals →