Editorial: Levelling Up the United Kingdom? A Useful Mantra but Too Little Substance or Delivery?

At the time of writing (April 2022), globally, the effects of COVID 19 are still very real for the National Health Service, and other health services across the world; the Brexit aftermath continues to reverberate across Europe; and an energy crisis is looming in the wake of the ongoing Ukrainian War. Meanwhile the UK is experiencing economic slowdown and rising inflation, whilst the Johnson Conservative government is plunged into the midst of Partygate. The culmination of these crises is severely impacting the UK economy and this cocktail of internal and external shocks does not bode well for reducing disparities or addressing social and economic difficulties. Many commentators argue that in the last 2 years, existing social and economic inequalities have been exacerbated, the north-south divide has worsened; with a severity incomparable across Europe. In his first speech as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson spoke of a need to ‘level up across Britain’ and ‘answer the plea of the forgotten people and the left behind towns’, unleashing the ‘the productive power’ of every corner of the country” (Prime Minister’s Office, 2019). The theme of levelling up was also addressed in the Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto – this pledged to ‘to use our postBrexit freedoms to build prosperity and strengthen and level up every part of the country’, through specific measures such as Investing in towns, cities, and rural and coastal areas; giving those areas more control of how investment is made; Levelling up skills using apprenticeships and a £3bn National Skills Fund and creating up to 10 freeports to help deprived communities. Similarly, The Queen’s Speech (2021) stated the Government will ‘level up opportunities across all parts of the United Kingdom, supporting jobs, businesses and economic growth and addressing the