Levelled-up or forgotten people? Place and public perceptions of bias in the Johnson government

The Conservatives under Boris Johnson have pledged to ‘level-up’ struggling areas of the country, particularly in the North. Lawrence McKay shows a widespread concern with this divide, but a shared belief that the current government is biased against these areas, acutely felt by Northerners in particular. The thin and vague policy agenda represented by ‘levelling up’ may not address this severe trust gap.