UK domestic policy in recent years has focused on regional inequalities in economic outcomes and public service delivery. These inequalities map onto a political ‘geography of discontent’, which grew increasingly obvious through the 2010s. 

These inequalities are nothing new; nor are public policy efforts to address them. 

Drawing on interviews with ninety-three top level political and official policymakers in the UK (spanning six decades of experience), we identify past efforts at addressing regional policy and summarise practitioners’ views on the lessons today’s political leaders can learn.

We find broad political consensus on a range of areas: that widening divides are not inevitable; that previous policy regimes have lacked sufficient ambition; that excessive past centralisation has driven policy instability; and that sustained top-level political leadership to support the Mayoral Combined Authority model could form the basis of cross-party consensus for regional growth. 

Our interviewees diverge on how future reforms ought to be prioritised, with open questions on: which powers ought to be held at which tier of government; whether the Combined Authority model is right for all places; what the best mechanism for devolving powers might be (and whether the current voluntary approach ought to remain); and how to ensure fair funding formulae and fiscal devolution for the UK’s regions.