A survey has revealed that people in Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets are among the few to feel their area has “generally improved” since the Levelling Up scheme began.

London boroughs accounted for just four local authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales where people told YouGov they were optimistic about where they lived.

The only places where the “generally improved” option came out on top in the YouGov poll were Hackney, Islington, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets.

In Tower Hamlets, 34% of people chose this option, rising to 36% for people in Southwark and Islington, and to 38% for people in Hackney.

Elsewhere, people most commonly chose the “generally stayed much the same” option in 215 local authority areas, and the “generally declined” option in 142 councils.

London was a city of extremes according to the survey, as the second strongest sense of decline nationwide appeared in Havering (48%) in east London.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently defended the way Levelling-up funding had been allocated.

He said: “If you look at how we are spending this money, it is disproportionately benefiting people in the North East, the North West, and that’s great.”