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A Labour government would axe the term “levelling up” to describe attempts to tackle regional inequalities in favour of new language in a bid to sever ties with the Conservative’s legacy.
“We will want to define it in our own terms because of the failure of the government’s policy when it comes to levelling up,” a Labour spokesperson said. Asked if this meant the party would drop the phrase, they replied: “Correct”.
The slogan was devised by Boris Johnson, former Conservative prime minister, in 2019 to brand his flagship plan of bringing economic prosperity to left-behind towns and cities.
But the policy has so far delivered mixed results with as little as 10 per cent spent of the promised funding to regenerate struggling areas, according to the House of Commons public accounts committee.
Shadow ministers said the levelling up department, which is also responsible for communities and housing, would probably be rechristened if Labour won the general election expected this year. Labour was polling 20 points ahead of the Tories, according to the Financial Times tracker.
One Labour official suggested the department’s original name of “communities, housing and local government” could be restored, describing this as the “Ronseal” option, referring to the paint brand well known for doing what it says on the tin.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said she was not “precious” about the ministry’s new name.
If her party comes to power, she is tipped to take charge of a sweeping portfolio spanning employment reform to housing and regional policy. Rayner is currently the subject of a police investigation into her tax arrangements from a decade ago.
“It’s about getting the fundamentals, not about a slogan, I’m not in a room with a Malcolm Tucker-type spin-doctor writing Post-it notes on what my department should be called. It’s about how do we really make change,” she said.
Earlier this spring, Rayner’s team held meetings with aides from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s office to discuss replacing the language around “levelling up”, according to people familiar with the matter.
“People at one of the meetings were talking about wanting to spread economic growth everywhere and for everyone, someone else suggested replacing ‘levelling up’ with ‘take back control’ [the Brexiters slogan in 2016],” said one party insider.
“There is a genuine question about whether we’ve left it too late to find a phrase that would stick with the public, given the election is looming,” they said.
But some senior aides are wary of putting too much political emphasis on the policy after numerous governments have failed to reduce regional inequality.
“There’s an element of . . . it’s better to make small commitments you can keep than big ones you can’t,” said one.
Rayner told the FT that Labour would deliver “fundamental changes” in a first term of government, but she warned it could take a decade to fully rebuild Britain after years of “austerity” and deep cuts to public services.
She cautioned that a Labour administration could not “fix everything overnight” after the “wrecking ball” of 14 years of Conservative-led government, but added: “Within 10 years Britain will be transformed”.
An incoming Labour government would face eye-wateringly tight public finances with planned departmental spending cuts due to take effect after the election.
“There are things we can do immediately, like the employment ‘new deal’, the regional growth plans, getting houses built and planning reforms, as well as the green prosperity plan — you will start to see the green shoots of renewal,” she added.
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