Any hopes for national economic renewal will require not only the uphill irrigation of capital investment into the regions, but also a strong capital the regions can connect with and grow from. Yet the continued defiant economic resilience of London cannot be taken for granted.

In this respect, the reappraisal of the Greater London Authority (GLA) Act 1999 – a crucial pillar of the first-term Blair Government's devolution – at the quarter century mark is propitious timing.