UK's Johnson announces urban renewal plans after promise to "level up"

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks outside Downing Street, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in London, Britain, April 14, 2021. REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday announced a series of urban renewal projects worth 830 million pounds ($1.2 billion) in towns and cities away from London as part of his promise to "level up" the country's economy.

Johnson, who won a 2019 election thanks largely to voters in struggling regions of England and is facing pressure from nationalists in Scotland and Northern Ireland, also said more than 3,000 interior and business ministry jobs would move to Stoke-on-Trent in central England, Edinburgh and Belfast by 2025.