As Christmas approaches and the excitement starts to grow, up and down the country rehearsals are starting for shows taking place in village and town halls and city theatres.

Pantomimes, farces and fairy tales from Aladdin to Sleeping Beauty, all telling similar stories with plenty of villains and cries of ‘he's behind you' but always with a happy ending.  This set me wondering if there were any parallels to be found as the excitement in local government starts to grow while we all await the publication of the much heralded ‘Levelling Up' White Paper.