Is devolution to metro mayors having its intended effect? In the political sphere, the Labour party loudly celebrated its near-clean sweep of victories at the metro mayor elections, but risks neglecting the needs of England's biggest cities.

On the face of it, having a Labour government and lots of Labour mayors should be a good thing. Some call it vertical political integration – the theory that political and policy disagreements between local and national leaders are minimal between politicians of the same political stripe.