It’s hard to ‘level up’ when No 10 is always bearing down on everyone

The Tories say they plan to boost the regions with powerful governors. But look at how they treat the mayor of London

Michael Gove, in his new role as the cabinet's major-domo and minister in charge of levelling up", is about to expend large amounts of intellectual and political capital attempting to close the gap between the south-east and everywhere else.

Levelling up, as we are told repeatedly by No 10, will be the defining achievement of the Johnson administration and 2022 is the year that efforts to transform the much-neglected regions begin to gather pace. With this in mind, Gove is about to publish a white paper that outlines how the government plans to tackle this gargantuan task.