At 90, fierce Remainer Michael Heseltine is calling for revolution

Lord Heseltine has offered a radically different vision of the future – but does Rishi Sunak have the stomach to do the same, asks Salma Shah

If growth is today’s biggest challenge, Heseltine has a plan to supercharge the economy (PA)

Revolutionary zeal is not often found on the Tory benches in the House of Lords. It is, usually, a rather genteel place containing cool and level heads who have very much grown out of their youthful passions. Yet one imposing nonagenarian has been reprising his role as an establishment hellraiser: fierce Remainer Michael Heseltine, speaking in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill debate, has once again called for radical changes to the government’s devolution agenda.

While Tory MPs were being asked to quietly ditch the confusing term of “levelling up”, Lord Heseltine was desperately trying to give it some meaning, suggesting a reduction in the number of local authorities from 300 to 60 to make local power more meaningful and local government cheaper.

If growth is today's biggest challenge, Heseltine has a plan to supercharge the economy – giving more power back to local communities and backing that up with change and cash. He argues, as he has for many years, that small amounts of funding put in local hands with strong elected leadership can do more to create growth in areas with that all-important local input. But that requires a painful reorganisation of councils.