🗣️ How new Sheffield council leader Tom Hunt is keeping his Labour colleagues in order and dealing with a massive pay equality claim from the unions

We're in party conference season which means politicos, pundits, business types and hangers-on will be filling up the hotels of Manchester this week. As Tory party conference gets underway, Rishi Sunak is struggling to fend off questions about whether he's about to axe the HS2 link to the city. On the podcast this week, Rob Parsons asks what is happening in the Steel City of Sheffield with its new council leader Tom Hunt, who's plotting a bright future after a turbulent few years but has a few big issues on his plate, such as keeping his Labour colleagues in order and dealing with a massive pay equality claim from the unions. And Rob speaks to Northumbria academic Katy Shaw about an innovative initiative led from the North which could mark a turning point in how the country goes about its vital research projects.  *** The Northern Agenda is a Laudable production for Reach. It is presented by Rob Parsons, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. You can subscribe to the daily Northern Agenda newsletter here: http://www.thenorthernagenda.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices