In the first of a series of interviews with leading figures in the parties standing at the General Election, Rob Merrick talks to Labour’s most senior MP in the region, Nick Brown

WITH the General Election starting pistol fired, Nick Brown – the region’s senior Labour MP – does not seem overflowing with confidence about his party’s prospects.

The former Minister for the North-East also has an intriguing take on why no party is romping to victory, conjuring up images of Serbia and Bosnia as he warns of a “Balkanised” society.

And he is not shy in pointing out a policy area where he fears Ed Miliband lacks the boldness the North-East needs – arguing he has freedom to speak out “within certain boundaries”.

But first, the coalition’s five years in power. In recent months, ministers have been able to boast about economic growth and tumbling unemployment reaching this region – so aren’t things on the up?

Unsurprisingly, Mr Brown does not see it that way. “After five years, people are very disappointed,” he says.

“They will vote on the prospects for themselves and their families. What are my chances of getting a decent pay rise, to earn more money? Who will make sure older member of the family are properly looked after?

“In the North-East, you can point to intractable levels of unemployment – one in three in the worst parts – and the jobs that people are getting are agency jobs, part-time, poorly paid. Why has employment gone up and productivity has not? The answer is the nature of those jobs.”

Mr Brown is also scathing about the coalition’s record on investment, arguing the only big projects taken forward were on his desk, as the regional minister, back in 2010 or earlier.

He protests: “What they haven’t done is take forward any new projects. What’s gone is that sense of dynamism and getting things down.”

That takes us onto his big policy disagreement with the Labour leadership – its acceptance of the coalition’s agenda of poorly-funded local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) as engines of growth.

Mr Brown says: “There isn’t much disagreement across the parties – all accept we need to grow, broaden and deepen the private sector economy of the North-East. But we need a regional minister – not elected mayors. It is essential that we take regional policy seriously and that there is someone in national Government who can lead the region’s agenda.”

Of course, when Mr Brown was regional minister, the role was criticised as a Tyneside “takeover of Teesside”. He admits: “You’re quite right, that is strongly felt on Teesside. The best way to overcome that is by proving the value of a regional minister to Teesside and I think that can be done.”

So what about Mr Miliband as a whole? Does his unpopularity with many voters rear its head in Newcastle East, when Mr Brown is knocking on his constituents’ doors?

“Nobody has said those things to me,” he replies. “Oddly enough, I’ve not been asked whether David Cameron or Ed Miliband should be prime minister.

“I ask people to vote for me on my record of 32 years at parliament. Most people call me Nick and are pleased to see me – or they pretend they are,” he grins.

Last year, Mr Brown took a pop at the “Corpus Christi Oxbridge crowd” that surrounds Mr Miliband, arguing his aides lacked experience of the reality of life for ordinary people. But he said: “I make that criticism of the leadership of all three parliamentary parties.”

And That leads the 64-year-old former union adviser and Newcastle councillor onto his regret that British is a society is ever more “divided by class, by where you live, by income”.

He says: “We are Balkanised as a society. People live with people like themselves much more than they did when I was first elected to parliament. Whereas many people of ordinary means are worse off than they were five years ago, there are some who have prospered and done very well.

“It’s almost a division between those who have properties, are owner-occupiers, and those who are not. Of course, that affects voting patterns, and people are much more likely be comfortable in London and the South-East than in other parts of the United Kingdom, where people feel nobody is speaking up for them.”

It is for that reason that he hesitates to predict the result on May 7. Asked if Labour will win, he replies: “Umm, the right result would be an all-out Labour victory, but it’s a very unusual election. It’s unique.”

Support for both big parties is “fragmenting”, he adds, and there is the SNP in surge in Scotland. “That’s certainly damaging to Labour’s chances,” he admits.

So what should Mr Miliband put front and centre of Labour’s campaign if he is to overcome this growing economic and political divide? Mr Brown has no doubts.

“He does understand the tensions between different parts of the United Kingdom and he should make very clear that we are going to be a good Government for the whole country.

“The key thing that divides us is inequality of some people being very wealthy indeed, while most are not as well off as five years ago. That requires an adjustment.”