As England's new wave of mayors prepare to reshape our regions, culture risks becoming the ghost at the devolution feast. We talk rightly about transport, housing, skills, and economic growth but rarely about the shared imagination that gives places their purpose. It's time to change that. If the new Norfolk & Suffolk Combined Authority is to go the distance, culture must be written into the devolution playbook, not as optional decoration, but as intrinsic infrastructure.
In May 2026, Norfolk and Suffolk will elect their first regional mayor. Together, the two counties will gain new powers over economic growth, transport, housing, planning, skills, and environmental policy, but not, crucially, over culture. Despite its proven impact on growth and wellbeing, the current model leaves cultural investment sitting awkwardly between national funders and local councils, with no formal plan or direct investment for mayors to use. The risk is that culture becomes an afterthought in a system built to plan for economies, not identities.
