Levelling-up policy of the British government
UK government policy under Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Levelling up" is a political policy first articulated in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto that aims to reduce the imbalances, primarily economic, between areas and social groups across the United Kingdom. It seeks to do so without acting to the detriment of prosperous areas, such as much of South East England.[1] A white paper for the policy was published by Boris Johnson's government on 2 February 2022, and has been continued by Rishi Sunak's government.[2] The policy is overseen by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and the incumbent Secretary of State is Michael Gove.
The concept of levelling up has bipartisan support. Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader, said in October 2022 that a future Labour government would "pick up the challenge of levelling up", but that his party believed only they would be able to deliver it, calling Johnson's plan to deliver levelling up "an empty slogan".[3]