The newspapers seem to be full of stories either questioning what future the Conservative Party has given the prospect of a solid thrashing at some point in the next fifteen months or so or bemoaning what it might do in the time it has left. It does require a sense of manic optimism to believe that a government which appears to have given up on addressing the issues that actually matter to the public can actually turn things around.

And yet, the public mood is fickle. It isn’t that long ago that the Conservatives were leading in the polls fairly comfortably, and they must hope that they can win over enough potential support to scrape home somehow. It all seems a bit “Micawber-ish”, if truth be told. Halving inflation means little if wages still aren’t increasing as fast as prices, and the rest of Rishi Sunak’s aspirations are becoming less deliverable as time passes.

There was an interesting comparison this week, looking at regional prosperity, reminding us that, whilst Britain is still a wealthy country, that wealth is very poorly distributed, with London by far and away wealthier than the rest of the country, to the point where three-quarters of the population live in regions where average income is comfortably below the national average. Indeed, if you take out the distorting effect of London, the rest of us are as well off as the denizens of Mississippi. That isn’t something we should be aspiring to…

It’s the reason why “levelling up” actually offered something valuable, even if the delivery was lamentably half-hearted. The growth potential of the rest of our nation beyond the M25 requires real investment in our key infrastructure – railways, the electricity grid, water, renewables – and it’s clear that this government wants to leave it to the private sector to deliver it. But, whilst there is a place for the private sector in delivering services and utilities, for long-term investments the best option is for significant public participation given the increasingly short-term nature of the market.

Because, ultimately, government is the provider of last resort for a myriad of essential services, as was demonstrated by the collapse of a series of train operating companies during the COVID crisis. Somebody needs to run a train service and, if the private sector can’t make a profit from it, they won’t do it.

Government does at least have the ability to factor in the non-tangible benefits of providing a service, particularly the social ones, and can make decisions on a basis which factors in a wider national strategy. And whilst this Government doesn’t appear to have a strategy beyond getting to the end of the week day, an incoming administration might be more activist.

As liberals, we have an obligation to consider how best to manage a mixed-market economy, establishing a framework which encourages innovation whilst protecting the vulnerable and distributing wealth more evenly than it is now. Perhaps that means taking up the levelling up agenda and giving it some real meaning at last.

* Mark Valladares is the Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice.