"I'm pragmatic," he said, shrugging off whether it would be galling if the government took the credit for change in Sunderland. Sitting in a new office space, built on the former site of Sunderland's much-loved Vaux brewery which closed in 1999 only to be relaunched 20 years later not far away, Melia lists the dozens of local officials in education, business, sport, culture and the voluntary sector who took days out their schedules two years ago to come up with a vision for a much-neglected city. "It's our vision," said Patrick Melia, the chief executive of Sunderland council, who is not affiliated to any political party.
Much of it began before levelling up became Johnson's latest slogan. But they made clear that the regeneration of Sunderland is mostly home-grown - created and implemented by a team of local officials, council leaders, philanthropists, educationalists and the creative industries. Local officials interviewed for this article didn't criticise Johnson's desire to level up. For more than three decades, Sunderland has been home to a big Nissan (7201.T) car factory. The northeast used to receive EU money for less prosperous regions, funds which went towards projects including contributing to a new institute for automotive and advanced manufacturing at the university. The northeast as a whole is among England's most impoverished regions and Sunderland ranked 33rd for deprivation out of more than 300. The aim is to attract more people to a city centre largely unloved for decades. The plan is ambitious in its aim to build smart homes with solar panels and 5G technology, new office spaces, hotels, restaurants, bars and a new eye hospital. The city's regeneration is being led by the local Labour-dominated council. Near the River Wear, which cuts through Sunderland, a city of around 280,000 people, a few boarded-up buildings offer a glimpse of the city of old, rapidly being replaced by glass and steel constructions. Ministers have repeatedly denied the Conservative Party has turned away from its defining ideology. Some members of Johnson's Conservative Party are quietly concerned that the prime minister is breaking with the party's low-tax, small-state ideology by promising to raise living standards and improve public services across northern and central England. "The 4.8 billion pounds Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets," the spokesperson said. In response, a government spokesperson said the government is delivering on a central mission. A former adviser to Johnson told Reuters the prime minister adopted his levelling up slogan during the 2019 election campaign and could not be persuaded to drop it even though some aides branded it meaningless. Political opponents say the policy is populist and lacks substance and that in some cities Johnson is trying to take credit for investments made by previous governments and regeneration projects that are already underway. Johnson has spoken of his ambitions for more police, nurses, football pitches and green technology, better transport, education and broadband, and plans to clean up chewing gum and graffiti. If levelling up succeeds, the Conservatives hope, places like Sunderland will also abandon Labour. In 2019, the northeast elected seven new Conservative MPs.
Already Johnson's Conservative Party has made big electoral gains in traditional Labour-voting areas of the north.