Table Of ContentLevelling Up the UK
Economy
The Need for
Transformative Change
Luke Telford
Jonathan Wistow
Levelling Up the UK Economy
“This excellent book provides a powerful, critical examination of Levelling Up,
and grounds its assessment within a much-needed political economy perspective.
It traces the ‘left behind places’ problem to the nature and evolution of UK capi-
talism itself. Further, it goes beyond the usual aggregate statistical metrics used to
measure and discuss the scale of the ‘left behind places’ problem, to delve into the
lived experiences of those living in those places. By means of this political economy
and qualitative approach, the authors rightly conclude that the UK Government’s
Levelling Up programme is unlikely to deliver on its promises to transform eco-
nomic fortunes and social conditions in ‘left behind places’, and may not even
prevent geographical inequalities from widening still further. This stimulating
book is essential reading for all academic scholars and policymakers concerned
with the UK’s ‘left behind places problem’.”
—Professor Ron Martin, Emeritus Professor of Economic
Geography, University of Cambridge, UK
“This is one of the most significant efforts to analyse the UK government’s
Levelling Up programme. Not only does it brilliantly chronicle the moral, social
and economic reasons for addressing geographical inequality, but it further details
the transformative changes necessary to overcome the significant barriers that peo-
ple in ‘left behind’ locales face in terms of gaining access to well-paid, secure
employment. Recognising that spatial disparities in the UK are deeply entrenched
and long-running, Telford and Wistow argue for a ‘phase shift’ in political econ-
omy that goes beyond the ‘sticking plaster’ approach to the present, which they
suggest is unlikely to spread opportunity, revive communities and restore local
pride. This book is likely to garner much interest from those interested in trajecto-
ries of inequality and the implications for place, people and government policy.”
—Professor Julie MacLeavy, Professor of Economic
Geography, University of Bristol, UK
Luke Telford • Jonathan Wistow
Levelling Up the UK
Economy
The Need for Transformative Change
Luke Telford Jonathan Wistow
Department of Social Work and Social Department of Sociology and Wolfson
Policy and School for Business Research Institute for Health and
& Society Wellbeing
University of York Durham University
York, UK Durham, UK
ISBN 978-3-031-17506-0 ISBN 978-3-031-17507-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17507-7
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F
oreword
I am writing this on the day that the Conservative Government has
announced new ‘investment zones’ across the UK. These are to be based
on slashing personal taxes in addition to business rates as part of a national
wheels in motion economic strategy, which builds on previous policy
experiments such as enterprise zones, development corporations, and free-
ports. Previous obsessions with subnational economic development as
part of what was called the ‘Levelling Up’ agenda appear to be being
superseded by a national growth agenda. This is looking more like Hayek
on helium—an ultra-faith in free markets, laissez-faire, and a belief that
business knows best, and wealth will indeed trickle-down to our cities and
regions.
Academics and policymakers alike need to read Levelling Up the UK
Economy by Luke Telford and Jonathan Wistow. This book is the most
comprehensive qualitative study available on the ‘levelling up’ chapter in
the policy history of local and regional economic development, which
occupied the period 2019–2022. Here, the authors skillfully work through
30 semi-structured interviews with 5 Directors of Regeneration working
in so-called left behind places, as well as unique insight offered by the lives
of 25 ‘left behind’ residents in Teesside—an important experimental space
for the Conservative Government’s ambitions for free- market capitalism.
Theoretically informed, interdisciplinary, and rich in policy nuances and
political insight, the authors walk us through the rise and fall of this policy
narrative and argue critically that rather than providing a major break in
the patterns of combined and uneven development in the UK’s polity,
Levelling Up should be seen instead as tinkering at the edges of
v
vi FOREWORD
transformative change. Yes, there has been a renewed focus on pride in
policy and civic collective visions, but the event to which this has really
empowered local government and the fabric of civil society is open to criti-
cal question. This is social policy at its very best.
Rather than just leave things there, the authors conclude by offering an
ambitious alternative path for our ‘left behind places’. Now that ‘Levelling
Up’ is predicted to be eclipsed by a new national growth agenda, the
authors persuasively invite readers to consider the possibilities for a Green
Industrial Revolution, where deglobalization is a core component of the
UK political economy. This is pitched alongside interventions such as a
state funded job guarantee, argued to be pivotal in transforming those ‘left
behind’ places such as Teesside. Writing this foreword from my university
base in Stoke-on-Trent—not too dissimilar in economic and social chal-
lenge to Teesside—I welcome these initiatives which need to be subjected
to serious academic and policy debate.
V ice Chancellor and Professor of Martin Jones
Human Geography, Staffordshire University
Stoke-on-Trent, UK
A
cknowledgements
The authors’ ongoing collaborative work stems from Jonathan supervising
Luke’s MA project at Durham University back in 2017. This project
brings together much of our thinking in the years since, synthesising the
government’s flagship policy programme—Levelling Up—particularly
with insights from politics, political economy, sociology and economic
geography. There are too many people to thank, though Luke is particu-
larly thankful to his family especially his Mum as well as his wife Gemma,
who he dedicates the book to. Thanks also go to his Labrador, Freddie,
for time away from the book on walks. Jonathan would like to thank Carol
for all her support and patience and Benjamin for being a good lad! We
also thank the respondents for giving up their time to speak to us, since
without them the book’s empirical contribution would not have been
possible.
vii
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
2 Capitalism’s Trajectories and Local Spatial Dynamics 15
3 The Levelling Up Agenda 43
4 Local Government, Governance and Levelling Up 69
5 Sentiments from a ‘Left Behind’ Place 89
6 Conclusion: Scanning the Future 119
ix
A A
bout the uthors
Luke Telford is a Lecturer in Criminal Justice and Social Policy at the
University of York. Luke is an interdisciplinary researcher. His main inter-
ests include working-class culture, social harm, politics, political economy,
the COVID-19 pandemic and developing social policy for ‘left behind’
places. He is the author/co-author of four books. This includes Lockdown:
Social Harm in the COVID-19 Era (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), which
explored the unintentional consequences of pandemic management such
as the lockdowns and associated restrictions. It also includes the mono-
graph English Nationalism and Its Ghost Towns (Routledge, 2022), explor-
ing the factors that gave rise to political discontent in a ‘left behind’ place
and what can be done to ameliorate it. Luke is working on the problems
of ‘left behind’ places and what can be done to resurrect them in relation
to social policy and the political economy.
Jonathan Wistow is an Associate Professor at Durham University. His
core interests include place-based social policy and governance systems,
political economy and health inequalities. He is the author/co-author of
three books including Studying Health Inequalities: An Applied Approach
(Policy Press, 2015), as well as a recent book entitled Social Policy, Political
Economy and the Social Contract (Policy Press, 2022). The latter explores
complexity and social contract theory to understand the trajectory of
political economy and its linkages with policy. Jonathan is researching
place-based health inequalities, air pollution and brain health, and
Levelling Up ‘left behind’ locales all within a complex systems frame of
reference.
xi
l t
ist oF Ables
Table 3.1 Lessons from past policy and five pillars underpinning the
policy regime (HM Government, 2022) 51
Table 3.2 The Levelling Up ‘Capitals’ (HM Government, 2022) 59
Table 3.3 Levelling Up Missions and Objectives (HM Government, 2022) 62
xiii
