'Levelling up' was a central Conservative manifesto promise in 2019, given new impetus following the rebranding in September 2021 of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with Michael Gove as its new secretary of state.

However, the meaning of this slogan is not always clear, and ministers have mentioned many different – and sometimes conflicting – objectives in the levelling up agenda. This paper sets out five questions that the government must answer in its forthcoming white paper to address gaps and contradictions in its statements on levelling up.