A legacy of broken promises: What Boris Johnson's tenure meant for Greater Manchester - and where we go from here

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

In July 2019, just four days after taking office, Boris Johnson took to a podium at the Science and Industry Museum in the heart of Manchester to make a series of bold promises. As had been the case during a bombastic election campaign - which won over some of the region’s key 'red wall' constituencies - the pledges came thick and fast.

Affordable housing. Public services to support families and help the most vulnerable. Tackling crime. Better connectivity, including high speed rail between northern cities. A boost for culture. True devolution.

Then, and since, Johnson’s speeches have often been characterised by those two magical words - Levelling Up.

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And yet, less than three years later, big questions remain around whether Boris Johnson’s government’s ever really put its money where his mouth was to address the blatant inequalities that exist between cities like Manchester and cities like London. Of the three dozen ‘red wall’ districts that had previously voted for Labour but helped Boris to his 2019 win, 86pc have fallen further behind London and the South East of England.

There are those who insist Mr Johnson did make headway when it came to 'levelling up'. James Daly, MP for Bury North, who resigned as a Parliamentary Private Secretary on Wednesday having 'lost confidence' in the Prime Minister's leadership, told the Manchester Evening News he had ‘invested tens of millions upon tens of millions of pounds in levelling up’, adding: "In all boroughs of Greater Manchester, he invested record sums in schools and hospitals."

Boris Johnson’s leadership has also coincided with turbulent times. The pandemic has