#33: Devolution Can Make Us More ‘Sussex’. But It Is A Big Leadership Challenge

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 33:

Devolution Can Make Us More ‘Sussex’. But It Is A Big Leadership Challenge

Host: Richard Freeman
Guest: Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP – Secretary of State for Business and Trade; MP for Hove & Portslade

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🔍 Episode summary

This episode opens a new year and a new series of Sussex And The City, recorded at a moment of political shift but strategic acceleration.

Richard Freeman sits down with Peter Kyle MP – one of the most influential figures in the current government and a long-standing Sussex representative – to explore what devolution could actually mean for Sussex beyond the headlines.

Peter reflects on his own Sussex story, growing up in Bognor Regis and West Sussex, leaving school with no qualifications, experiencing homelessness, and later finding opportunity through work, education and community organising. That lived experience runs through the conversation, shaping how he thinks about power, place, social mobility and leadership.

The discussion ranges from the structural weaknesses of the Sussex economy – where ports, towns, universities and Gatwick all “point to London, not each other” – to the opportunities devolution could unlock if leadership is used to connect rather than centralise.

This episode grapples with big questions:

• Can Sussex ever act as a single region?
• Can growth be genuinely inclusive?
• And what kind of leadership is needed to make devolution work for places that don’t look or vote the same?

“It's not about trying to change Sussex – just trying to make us more Sussex.”

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This episode is brought to you in partnership with:

Kreston Reeves – one of the UK’s leading accountancy and advisory firms, and one of the first to achieve B Corp status.

With offices in Brighton, Chichester and across the South East, Kreston Reeves works with ambitious businesses, charities and individuals across manufacturing, education, property, tech and the arts. From tax strategy and audit to succession planning and ESG reporting, their advice combines national expertise with deep local knowledge.

👉 krestonreeves.com

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🎯 Why this matters

Sussex is entering a long transition period. The mayoral election timetable may have shifted, but the decisions shaping the region’s future are already being made.

Peter argues that devolution is not a tidy fix, but a leadership test; one that requires bridging deep economic, geographic and political divides.

“We are a divided set of communities – and that shouldn’t be the case.”

The episode challenges the idea that growth alone is enough, asking how infrastructure, skills, housing, transport and opportunity can be aligned so that prosperity spreads rather than concentrates.

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🧠 Topics covered include:

• Peter Kyle’s Sussex upbringing and route into public life

• Why Sussex’s economy fails to “add up to more than the sum of its parts”

• Coastal towns, rural communities and unequal access to opportunity

• Growth vs place: why GDP alone isn’t enough

• The role of devolution in connecting ports, towns, universities and Gatwick

• AI, skills and why technology could either widen or close divides

• Leadership, collaboration and working across political difference

• Why devolution is a community enterprise, not a single-leader fix

“The mayoralty isn’t going to take power away from everywhere – but it will have the ability to facilitate.”

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📚 Further reading and references

• UK Government – industrial strategy (10-year framework)
• Peter Kyle visits University of Sussex
• OECD – regional development 
• OECD – decentralisation and regional development GOV.UK
• Institute for government – local growth plans (devolution context) OECD
• GOV.UK – secretary of state for business and trade (GOV.UK)
• UK Parliament – spoken contributions (Peter Kyle) 
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🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman
Guest: Peter Kyle MP
Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey (Lo-Fi Arts)
Production management: Letitia McConalogue

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📣 Get involved

Want to understand what devolution really means for Sussex?
Want clearer, more human conversations about power and place?

👉 sussexandthecity.info — episodes, resources and events.