The return of Michael Gove as Secretary of State at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities represents a crucial opportunity to resurrect the Government's flagging ‘levelling up' agenda.

Since Mr Gove's departure earlier in the summer, there is no doubt that ‘levelling up' has lost impetus: the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill was facing some severe headwinds in Parliament, inflationary pressure was buffeting public sector budgets, including those across local government imperilling many regeneration projects, and the state of the public finances meant that many were fearing a return to austerity - something which would have been the end of the agenda in any meaningful form.