David Cameron's vision for the North West

It lasted just under an hour but in his keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester the Prime Minister made more references to the North West than almost any other region in the country, including London.

Much of the speech was dedicated to attacking Labour's economic record and the party's plans for a future Britain. His alternative to Ed Miliband's 'Britain can to better than this' mantra was the notion of Britain as a "Land of opportunity', and in it, the north-west plays a prominent role:

• Blackpool, said Mr Cameron, should be the 'centre of Europe' for the shale gas industry.

• Manchester should have aspirations to be the "world leader in advanced materials"

• The North West needs High Speed Rail: "This country has been too London-centric for far too long" he said.