Look it’s not the biggie we all hoped for, but the upcoming local elections are not to be sniffed at. People are very dismissive of local government but that’s where most people’s day-to-day lives collide with politics. Most MPs don’t actually affect that much change in their communities – it’s down to local councillors and officers along with other services like police, education and health. We should care a lot more about who we elect locally, particularly next time you’re ranting about the bins. Maybe that’s just me.
These upcoming May elections are also important because they cover Police and Crime Commissioners and Mayors – but more on that later.
Labour kicked off their local election campaign by praising the man they helped bury. Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner praised Boris Johnson’s vision of levelling up and accused Rishi Sunak of killing off the flagship policy. I get why they are doing this. It’s très fashionable right now for senior Labour figures to find some way of praising bygone Tory leaders (although let’s not hold our breath for admiration about Liz Truss’s “bravery” – they may be cynical but they aren’t mad).
It generates easy coverage in right-wing papers and is the equivalent of political clickbait. We have had Thatcher praised by Starmer and more recently David Lammy. Now Johnson. This is a bid to appear not to be madly tribal and, of course, to coax fed-up former Tory voters over the red team. It’s a far cry from Rayner’s “street language” from a few years ago in 2021 where she labelled Conservatives as “scum.”
But I would urge some caution here. Levelling up was indeed another brilliant, snappy, exciting slogan which Johnson and his team were brilliant at conjuring up. How I wish Johnson and his team of advisers had become ad men instead of wrecking the country. But just like “get Brexit done” and the nonsense on the bus about the NHS – that’s all levelling up was. A hollow slogan which had no substance.
Look at the cuts which local authorities have faced which have contributed to many of them teetering on the brink of collapse. Look at the joke which is our transport infrastructure which was captured by the HS2 fiasco. And look at how instead of there being a big, long-term strategy for the regions, levelling up amounted to small pots of money being up for grabs. Like so many of Johnson’s big promises, this wasn’t worth the paper it was scribbled on. It was never a serious policy priority. And of course, Sunak rather let the cat out the bag when in 2022, he was filmed telling grassroot Tories that he had started changing the public funding formulas to divert money away from “deprived urban areas” to richer Tory shires. Busted!
Levelling up was a huge sham, and that slogan has fuelled such cynicism in politics, and about this really important issue.
Governments of all hues have failed on levelling up or true devolution of power, prosperity and opportunity, despite talking a good game about their commitment to it. There are a number of reasons for this. The need for control and a deep reluctance to give power away from the centre and Whitehall. And the reality that this stuff is hard work, there are no quick returns or wins, and spending lots of time immersing yourself in regional politics is far less sexy and glamourous than the lure of London and the South East and the thrill of the big boys of the City, creative industries, life sciences and technology.
That’s not to say that attempts have not been made to “do something” on devolution. Labour’s Regional Development Agencies sound dull, but were actually much loved and popular amongst local players from business. They were scrapped by the Tories in 2012. The creation of regional mayors to cover combined authorities have been a welcome addition to our architecture providing an interesting and potentially powerful bridge between national and local politics.
Andy Burnham provides a great example of how that platform can be used to become a leading national figure and deliver real local change such as on transport. I hope that if Labour win, they consider giving these mayors more powers, especially on limited aspects of tax such as tourism. It will also be interesting to see how much more Labour mayors can achieve with a Labour government.
Labour is very much committed to a levelling up renaissance. That’s all very noble but the devil will be in the detail and, of course, the money. Starmer made clear – as Rachel Reeves has done – that a new Labour government is not going to ride to the rescue of councils on the brink of bankruptcy. Again, we understand the need for rigorous fiscal discipline but that will provide little comfort to local councillors struggling to do more with less and more importantly, to furious local families and residents who have seen so many local services and facilities hollowed out and cut to the bone. It’s hard to talk grandly about the regions flourishing when some authorities are having to switch the street lights off, can’t help children with special educational needs and are going to have axe all their local arts and culture funding.
But there are things a future Labour government can do. Showing some genuine commitment and leadership on this area and actually showing up would be a start. Having regular face-to-face meetings with not just the mayors and local council leaders but also key figures in the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And having someone leading this work who actually wants to lead these meetings, cares and who shows respect for these players would go a long way.
Making some progress on transport infrastructure is imperative. Thinking about to boost regional investment is also vital which links to a big strategy on skills. Labour is very keen to wean the country off immigration so a robust regional skills strategy which is devolved yet coordinated and which works with business, schools, further education especially colleges and trade unions is going to be so important and will feed into growth. But all of this will take time and some money.
Making good on the promise to level up is a good thing. But Labour has to be honest with itself and the public about how great the challenges are – especially when there’s not a lot of money. There are of course big opportunities as well but there are no quick wins on this agenda. It’s hard graft. We need to be honest, levelling up is a slog, not a slogan – but the rewards will be worth it.