NOT many people are brave enough to declare that Liverpool and Manchester are no longer rivals and say instead: “I feel like a North Westerner.”

But, if anyone can, Beverley Hughes – a keen Liverpool fan, whose Stretford seat includes the home of their adversaries Manchester United – is that person.

More importantly, Ms Hughes is the minister sent by Gordon Brown to co-ordinate efforts to pull the North West through the recession, keeping as many people as possible in their jobs and their homes.

And it is in that economic field, rather than on the football field, that the ‘Regional Minister for the North West’ believes Liverpool and Manchester top the national table in co-operating, rather than competing.

Ms Hughes, a former leader of Trafford Council, has memories of the two cities scrapping like Kopites and Stretford Enders back in the 1980s and 90s, over such issues as regional airports.

But her admiration for the way Merseyside’s leaders now recognise that the region sinks or swims together is clear, as she says: “The level of political maturity has been transformational - way ahead of most other parts of the country.

“I genuinely believe the political rivalry has gone and they now have a common endeavour. That’s because Merseyside is more assured of its own stature in the region, so people have the confidence not to be sparking at each other.”

Worryingly, the minister fears the recession is now biting hardest in Merseyside, but she insists she has a strategy to prevent a return to the dark days of the “do nothing” Conservative years.

Of course, even the idea of a ‘minister for the region’ is controversial, given that it was born out of the embarrassing failure of Labour’s plans for an elected North West Assembly.

That idea flopped because people refused to agree there was such a thing as a ‘North Westerner’ – prompting Gordon Brown to bring in regional select committees and regional ministers instead.

The committees will get underway “in the spring”, including a ‘grand committee’ - possibly to be held in Liverpool – at which MPs and key organisations will quiz Ms Hughes on her work.

But what exactly does she do? Well, she set up a ‘Joint Economic Commission’, bringing local authorities, health trusts, the North West Development Agency, Jobcentre Plus, business groups, the trade unions and voluntary groups around the same table.