A reminder of just how vital the levelling up agenda is to this Government comes with the recent spate of rebellions by backbench Conservative MPs furious at the No 10 parties, and of course anxious about their career prospects.

Those against Boris Johnson tend to be in marginal seats and worried about the resurgent Lib Dems. Those sticking to Boris especially in the former ‘red wall’ areas in need of levelling up do so for precisely the opposite reasons, that only he has the ability to appeal across party divides to pro-Brexit, ex-Labour voters and keep the MPs’ seats. A second term thereby hinges on whether the swathe of red wall voters can be persuaded to vote again for Boris against the backdrop of a catastrophic cost of living crisis.