Does the government need to pick which areas to level up?

The Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto promised to level up “every part” of the UK, but there is unlikely to be enough money to radically improve economic prospects across the country. Will the government need to ‘pick winners’ or are there other ways of ensuring that money is spent where it can have the biggest impact? The sheer breadth of the levelling up agenda – and the missions that the government has set out – means almost any area can be seen as a priority. So how will the government’s levelling up missions shape its spending priorities? Can ministers avoid the impression – as has happened with the Towns Fund – that party politics motivates their choices? And is it possible to level up without ‘levelling down’ leading areas such as London and the South East? Speakers on the panel were: Andrew McPhillips, Chief Economist of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership Selaine Saxby MP for North Devon and member of the Work and Pension Committee Paul Swinney, Director of Policy and Research at the Centre for Cities The event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by Lloyds Banking Group.