Would handing No. 10’s powers to local leaders have improved the UK’s Covid response?

Countries taking a more regional approach have had success in tackling virus - and avoided domestic disputes

Boris Johnson emerges from 10 Downing Street
Countries taking a more regional approach have had success in tackling virus - and avoided domestic disputes
(Image credit: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, England’s regional mayors rarely made headlines outside of their local newspapers.

But as The Guardian’s Simon Jenkins writes, “suddenly mayors matter”, as northern leaders clash with Downing Street over local lockdown measures and financial support for struggling businesses.

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.