The UK is considering a bid for one of the Games in the 2040s it is revealed in the newly published Levelling Up White Paper, a Government initiative launched by Prime Minister Boris Johnson designed to spread opportunity more equally across the UK.

The ambition to bring the Olympics back to Britain for a fourth time is laid out on pages 220 and 221 of the 332-page document.

"London continues to reap the benefits from hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012," the document says.

"Hosting major sporting events can enable regeneration, support jobs growth, and encourage grassroots sport and community action.

"As we approach the tenth anniversary of the 2012 Games, the UK Government is commissioning UK Sport to lead feasibility work on the prospect of bringing major sporting events to the UK.

"This work will focus on opportunities outside London - supporting and underpinning the ambition to level up the UK."

The UK has already been awarded a series of major event, including this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UEFA European Women’s Championships in nine English cities and the Rugby League World in 18 host venues.

Other events the UK plan to bid for in the near future is the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup and the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ, with stages planned in England, Scotland and Wales.

A joint bid with Ireland for the 2030 FIFA World Cup has been abandoned but the Government has his sights fixed instead on the Olympics.

"The work will look at further opportunities over the years ahead including with the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations on whether it would be feasible to host the Olympics and Paralympics again in the 2040s," the Levelling Up document reveals.

London is the only city in the world to have hosted the Olympic Games three times - in 1908, 1948 and 2012 – but it is unlikely that it would be given the opportunity to enjoy the benefits again of such a major capital project when the Government is committed to spreading wealth across the country.

The exact cost of London 2012 is not known but has been estimated as high as £10 billion ($13.5 billion/€11.8 billion).

It did, however, help develop an area in the East of London that had been largely neglected since World War Two.

East Village is a housing development in Stratford that was designed and constructed as the Olympic Village for London 2012 and has since been converted for use as a new residential district, complete with independent shops, bars and restaurants. 

The area was formerly a contaminated waste land with industrial buildings to the north of Stratford town centre.

"As some areas have flourished, others have been left in a cycle of decline," Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said at the launch of the White Paper.

"The UK has been like a jet firing on only one engine."

Among UK cities that could be interested in bidding for the Olympics are Manchester and Glasgow, who hosted the 2002 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, respectively.

Birmingham, meanwhile, will be looking with interest at Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, which was awarded the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games after Gold Coast successfully hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Both Birmingham and Manchester have previously bid for the Olympics.

Birmingham entered the race for the 1992 Olympics, being knocked out in the second round with eight votes as the Games were awarded to Barcelona.

Manchester bid for the 2000 Olympics, reaching the third round ahead of Berlin and Istanbul before being eliminated with 11 votes as the Games were awarded to Sydney.

That defeat cemented belief within the British Olympic Association that if they were to go back with another bid then it needed to be from London.

It was a policy that paid handsome dividends in 2005 when London defeated Paris, Madrid, New York City and Moscow to be awarded the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Johnson was elected as London Mayor in May 2008 and oversaw preparations for the Olympics which he described as “the greatest Games ever.”

Government commitment to spreading funding around the UK could be a blow to Johnson’s successor as Mayor, Sadiq Khan, who had pledged to seriously investigate the possibility of London bidding again if he were re-elected.

The Labour politician got 55 per cent of the vote in a second-round runoff against the Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey.

Afterwards, Khan revealed he had planned to set up an exploratory committee to drive a bid, which he claimed could create "thousands of new jobs, boost tourism and solidify London as the sporting capital of the world".