Regional Growth Two Years In: Is the government on track to boost UK growth by closing regional divides?

King’s College London

The eighty-first Strand Group event launched a new paper: ‘Regional Growth Two Years In: Is the government on track to boost UK growth by closing regional divides?’ for King’s College London and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.

A distinguished panel discussed the findings of the report, which reviews the Labour government’s progress on regional policy since taking office from the perspective of econometric research and practitioner-based interview findings previously launched by the Strand Group.

Report authors – Dan Turner, Nyasha Weinberg, Anna Stansbury, Esme Elsden & Ed Balls.

Discussants

Angela Rayner, Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, 2020-2025 and Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2024-2025.

Kim McGuinness, Mayor of the North East since 2024.

Nick Macpherson, visiting professor at King’s College London, member of the House of Lords and Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2016.

Michael Gove, Editor of The Spectator, member of the House of Lords, and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, 2022-2024.

Ed Balls, Professor of Political Economy, King’s College, London & Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School

The event, followed by a drinks reception, took place at King’s College London on Wednesday 8 July.