The new Labour government announced yesterday that it is replacing the words “levelling up” with “local government” in the department’s name and ministerial titles.

Levelling up – a pledge to narrow geographical inequality – was a key part of Boris Johnson’s successful 2019 general election campaign.

When Johnson came into power he changed the name of the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government, replacing “local government” with “levelling up”.

However, government minister Jim McMahon told the press the phrase was “only ever a slogan” and was now being “firmly Tippex-ed out of the department”.

“We are now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,” he confirmed.

A Conservative spokesperson said the levelling up agenda had been “transformative for towns across the country, giving communities that Labour took for granted when they were last in office the investment they deserve.

“Labour’s decision to scrap levelling up will be a disaster for these towns, and their refusal to rule out clawing back £1bn of Conservative funding from local communities for Labour politicians to spend in Westminster puts the future of our communities at risk.”

Former prime minister Boris Johnson slammed Labour for the decision.

Responding to the move, Johnson wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Axing levelling up shows lack of ambition and a failure to believe in this country’s potential. Labour will axe Brexit next. Then they will pointlessly whack up taxes. The drift backwards has begun.”