‘This government ends if the red wall reverts back to type and we lose 45 seats then end up in hung parliament territory,’ warns one secretary of state. This comment is a reminder of how vital it is for Boris that levelling up is seen to be a success.
The rewards of getting it right are considerable. The Tories’ reward for that would probably be another decade in power: one cabinet loyalist says, ‘The boss wants to see a world where Labour are shut out. We consolidate the red wall.’
Michael Gove and Andy Haldane have found inspiration in 15th-century Florence
But fixing regional disparities isn’t easy: it is hard to find any country where levelling up is a mission accomplished (as opposed to a work in progress). Thirty years of intense German policy has succeeded in reducing the gulf between the old East Germany and the rest of the country. But that gap is still substantial: East German households have less than half the assets of west German ones.
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