Albert Ward

Albert Ward is a political researcher with a PhD from Oxford. He was Senior Fellow at More in Common, and a BBC analyst for the 2024 general election.

Everyone is arguing about devolution except voters

From our UK edition

Three years ago, Ipsos asked Britons a simple question: does the government care about places like yours? Eighty per cent said no. Not eighty per cent of the North, or of the poorest areas – eighty per cent of everyone, comfortable and struggling, north and south alike. In a few weeks, Andy Burnham will enter Downing Street with an answer to that number: move power out of Westminster, to regions and towns, and people will feel they count again. He is right that place sits at the heart of Britain's unhappiness, but the cure he is carrying into No. 10 is a fantasy.