Watch: Doncaster Newsnight audience rejects levelling up claims with resounding 'no'

Broadcaster and journalist Victoria Derbyshire brought the pre-Budget and pre-General Election BBC Two show to the newly created Doncaster East and Isle of Axholme constituency, which will replace the exisiting Don Valley constituency at the next election.

During a discussion on former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s flagship levelling up pledge at the 2019 election, she asked the audience at Crowle’s 7 Lakes Country Club: “Can I just ask, an unscientific sample obviously, but call out Yes or No; have you seen levelling up in this area.”

The entire audience responded with a resounding “no.”

After revealing Doncaster has been promised £18 million of levelling up cash, one of the panellists, Bassetlaw Conservative MP Brendan Clarke-Smith was laughed at by the audience when he tried to explain the Government’s policy.

He said: “We’re the only people who do actually have a plan, certainly in terms of how we want to invest. Now levelling up, of course, it’s something Boris Johnson made a big deal of in 2019.

“I think it’s not just about large cash transfers, though, it’s about pride in our communities. It’s about opportunities ...”

While in full swing, Derbyshire interjected to say: “With respect, there are people here in the audience who are laughing at what you’re saying.”

Clarke-Smith went on: “We just had a pandemic for two years. We spent £400 billion on that. That’s going to impact a lot of things. It’s impacted the NHS. It’s impacted a lot of building projects. It’s impacted all of these things together, so we are still recovering from that.”

He added: “But we’re going on the right path. We’re getting inflation down and we will see that levelling up and we will see that investment, including here in Doncaster East.”

The live programme – which also featured Labour MP Alison McGovern, the Liberal Democrats’ Christine Jardine and Reform UK’s David White – saw guests and votes discuss a number of subjects including the state of the economy, the cost of living crisis and funding for the NHS.

One voter, Mick Downing told the panel: “Doncaster is a ghost town. There’s a real lack of investment.

"I daren’t go out in Doncaster on a Saturday night, I’m fearful. It needs regeneration and investment – let’s see action, not words.”

Another audience member blasted levelling up as “absolutely meaningless” and “complete rhetoric” that needed calling out.

Karen, a mum from Gainsborough, spoke about how she and her family were struggling with unemployment, with both her and her two sons looking for jobs.

There were also contributions from local vicar Mark Zamitt, who runs a food bank in the Isle of Axholme which now helps more than 250 people each week – including full time employed people struggling to make ends meet who called for more to be done to help rural communities.

You can watch the episode in full HERE