Theresa May pledged to support a bid to bring the cycling world championships to Yorkshire as she vowed her government would press ahead with George Osborne’s “northern powerhouse” project.

After Team GB’s extraordinary medal success in the cycling events at the Rio Olympics, the prime minister used an article in the Yorkshire Post to promise that the government would underwrite the UK’s bid to host the world championships and provide £24m of investment.

The UK has hosted the world championships three times before, the last in 1982, and Yorkshire successfully hosted part of the Tour de France in 2014.

May also insisted she was committed to the “northern powerhouse” strategy, championed by the former chancellor, to give more powers to city regions.

Doubts had been raised about the new government’s support for the “northern powerhouse”. After the first meeting of the new economy and industrial strategy committee earlier this month, a spokesman made it clear that the phrase had not been used.

But in her Yorkshire Post article, May said the “northern powerhouse” was a “plan to help the great cities and towns of the north pool their strengths and take on the world”.



She added that she would boost the policy with a “proper industrial strategy” to support Yorkshire’s key sectors.

“To help us realise the benefits, the government will now develop a proper industrial strategy to back Yorkshire’s strengths, whether it is financial and health technology in Leeds, advanced manufacturing in South Yorkshire, or innovative new textiles in West Yorkshire.”

The prime minister added “industrial strategy” to the title of the new, beefed-up business department when she arrived in Downing Street, in a signal that she could take a more interventionist approach. Greg Clark, the business minister who replaced the free marketeer Sajid Javid, has a keen interest in devolution.

Separately, May used an article in the Birmingham Mail to support the “Midlands engine”, her name for giving the region more devolved powers.

“There is still so much more we need to do to build an economy that works for everyone, not just a privileged few. There is still so much untapped potential here, and right across the Midlands. The government I lead will help you unleash that potential and together we will make the Midlands – from Lincolnshire to Shropshire – a powerful engine for growth,” she said.

New metropolitan mayors are due to be elected in Manchester, Liverpool and the West Midlands next spring.

Ben Harrison, of the Centre for Cities thinktank, said May’s articles were significant and that her clear statement of support for devolution would provide “a degree of certainty for businesses”, especially coming after the government’s pledge to match EU project funding in areas such as science.

May’s new government has appeared to strike a fresh tone on a number of issues, with health campaigners arguing that Thursday’s publication of the anti-obesity strategy marked a considerable watering down of previous proposals; and the new chancellor, Philip Hammond, promising a “reset” on economic policy.