Power to Places 🇬🇧

A practical plan to rebuild pride, purpose and possibility — one place at a time.

~8 minute read

When we had local industry, we had local pride.

Not just jobs, but identity. Not just buildings, but belonging. Places had power — and people had a reason to stay.We’re going to bring that back. Not by recreating the past, but by building the future — cleaner, fairer, and rooted in the places people live.

Power to Places isn’t just a list of policies. It’s a new model of how Britain can run.

Britain is strongest when it’s a network of proud, distinct places — not a country of identikit towns. The goal isn’t to make everywhere the same. It’s to help every place become more itself — confident, creative, and connected to the future.

1. Build the industries of the future, place by place

We’ll back the industries that can power Britain’s future — and root them in the places that need them most.F1-grade engineering. Modern manufacturing. Alternative fuels. Advanced materials. Satellite systems. Digital infrastructure. Biotech. Immersive media.We’ll back the industries where each place has a real advantage — and help them specialise, grow and hire locally.Public money will be used to grow jobs and skills in places that have been left behind, not just prop up the strongest.

2. Build homes where people want to stay

We’ll use public land to build affordable, well-designed homes that are cheap to run and good for the planet.Local authorities and community-led groups will lead, with the freedom to build at speed where there’s need.These homes will be built to last — not just in quality, but in how they support local pride and keep people rooted in their area.We’ll prioritise new developments near clean energy — including offshore wind — to cut infrastructure costs and lower bills.We’ll work with energy suppliers to build Zero Bills homes and offer free electricity in place of heat pump grants — because what changes behaviour is what people feel.

3. Bring public services closer to the ground

We’ll give local leaders the money, responsibility and tools to run the services their communities rely on — from buses to childcare to housing to the NHS.Decisions will be made by the people who live with the consequences, not by departments far removed from the places they serve.We’ll publish clear standards for what people can expect — and fund local teams to meet them in ways that make sense for their area.

4. Make it easier to stay, and still grow

People don’t just leave places for jobs — they leave for culture, variety, and the chance to build a future. We’ll bring that possibility closer to home.If a commercial property sits empty for over 12 months, councils will be able to take it over and lease it affordably to local people. That includes garages, shopfronts, workshops and car parks — so they can become spaces for trades, care, food, retail or co-working.We’ll offer support to get everyday businesses going — plumbers, sparkies, carers, food makers, repairers — and link them to what’s growing locally. That might mean EV servicing near a gigafactory, retrofit installers where heat pumps are being fitted, or shared kitchens that use local produce from a vertical farm.We’ll connect these businesses with local colleges and apprenticeships — so young people can learn and earn close to home, with a future in mind.

5. Bring local pride to life through culture

We’ll invest in local creativity — from music and nightlife to festivals, public art and community media. Every place has stories worth telling and reasons to be proud. We’ll back that pride — and make sure it’s open, shared, and welcoming to newcomers.We’ll support local media and spaces that bring people together — funded through fair shares of national budgets like the BBC licence fee and regional arts grants. Strong relationships make us healthier, happier and more resilient. When people have a chance to gather, connect and belong, places thrive.And we’ll build new connections between culture and industry — from maker festivals to music-tech hubs — so that creativity isn’t just entertainment, but part of our future economy too.

6. Make neighbourhoods feel safe and looked after

We’ll bring back visible policing that people can trust — on foot, in the community, working with local schools and leaders.Councils will have the power to shut down dodgy front businesses that bring down high streets.For lower-level crime, we’ll bring in local justice panels that focus on fixing harm and making consequences visible.We’ll expand community teams to clean up graffiti, check in on young people, and look after shared spaces — working with places people already trust, like clubs, schools, mosques and churches.

7. Make care part of how places work

We’ll treat care as essential to local life — not just a service, but a foundation that lets people stay where they love.That means properly paid, skilled local jobs. Joined-up support across health, care and community services. And new models that prioritise relationships, independence and support close to home.We’ll connect these efforts to local training, local jobs, and local civic pride — so care becomes a sector people are proud to be part of.

8. Change how decisions are made and who makes them

We’ll give mayors and councils long-term funding, proper powers and fewer hoops to jump through.We’ll replace short-term projects and competitive bidding with real local control and accountability.We’ll create ways for people to take part in decision-making — not as a one-off, but as part of how the system works.And we’ll reform the centre itself — by moving departments out of London, modernising the civil service, and creating a culture of support not control.Even Parliament should travel — spending time in each region, so the voices of every part of Britain are heard where laws are made.

How We Pay for It

This isn’t about spending more. It’s about spending better.

We believe the money is already there — but it’s trapped in the swirl and drag of a hyper-centralised system. Budgets are siloed, decisions are delayed, delivery is duplicated. The result is waste: in time, in talent, in trust.By putting power closer to where problems are experienced — and where solutions are known — we unlock huge efficiencies. Places can coordinate, prioritise, and build for the long term. Services can be designed around people, not departments. Investments can be joined up across housing, energy, care, and transport — saving money while improving lives.This is how we afford a better future: not through austerity, but through alignment.

A Long-Term Mission, Owned by the People

This is a big vision. It won’t happen in a single term or with a single party. It will take a civic movement — led from below, carried across governments, and sustained by people who demand it.If you believe in it, make it your own. Ask for it where you live. Expect it from those who govern you. Share it. Adapt it. Improve it.

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