Tory jitters mount at Johnson’s political drift

Boris Johnson’s levelling up speech in Coventry last Thursday was billed as the moment the prime minister would set out the substance behind the central idea of his premiership.

In the event, he announced £50m ($ 68m) for community football pitches and 15 more high-street upgrades, and mused about the potential benefits of “mayors” for counties, asking the public to email him if they had a better name. There was much characteristic enthusiasm but little policy meat.

Some southern MPs were reassured by his message that he doesn’t want to “level down” affluent areas. But