North–South divide in England

The South in this image is composed of the South East, London, East, South West, East Midlands and West Midlands, with the North encompassing the rest.

In Great Britain the term North-South divide refers to the economic and cultural differences between the South East of England and Scotland, Wales, North East of England, North West of England and the Midlands.

Existence

The north south divide is a line that we have our own impression on, there is not an exact line, people stereotype places and presumes things about different places around them. The existence of the North-South divide is often contested. Some sources claim that not only does it exist, but that it is expanding. For example, a 'Cambridge Econometrics' report of March 2006 found that economic growth above the UK average was occurring only in the South and South East of England, whilst Scotland and North East England showed the slowest growth.

A similar report in 2001 found that North East England, North West England, Wales and Scotland had poorer health levels than South and South East England. The same data has been interpreted otherwise to indicate only a very small difference.

Indeed, results are highly dependent on the categories chosen for evaluation. As a generalisation, the following tend to indicate that there is some sort of north-south divide:

• Health conditions, which are generally seen as being worse in the north.
• House prices, which are higher in the south, particularly the south-east.
• Earnings, which are higher in the south and east.
• Government expenditure, which is sometimes argued to favour the north, and sometimes the south.
• Political influence.

However, when factors such as the cost of living or urban poverty are included, the divisions are sometimes less clear.

Furthermore, many rich, middle class areas are located south of Manchester, in the counties of Cheshire and southern parts of Greater Manchester, geographically part of The North. These towns include Alderley Edge, Hale and Knutsford. The Yorkshire town of Harrogate and the city of Aberdeen also show high levels of prosperity. On the other hand geographically southern areas such as the Isle of Thanet in Kent have struggled with the same industrial decline as the north. Cornwall, many London boroughs such as Hackney and southern towns like Luton are other anomalies to the North-South divide with poor health and education.

This has led some commentators to suggest that other divisions, such as class or ethnicity might be more important.

Following on from the 2007 local elections, some newspapers claimed that the North-South divide in politics was reemerging, with the North being generally supportive of Labour and the South being generally supportive of the Conservatives (see The Independent, front page, 5th May 2007; The Guardian, page 32, 10th May 2007). During the 1980s, Labour councils in the North were often openly dismissive of any orders from the Thatcher government. Examples include Liverpool under Militant Tendency and Sheffield under David Blunkett. As of May 2007, the Conservatives have no seats in the councils of Manchester, Liverpool or Newcastle; before the election, they were also unrepresented in York, which is often seen as more of a "typical Tory" city. However, this divide is made problematic by the fact that most of inner London is Labour-voting, and some rural areas of Yorkshire are quite fiercely Conservative. A more established divide is that urban areas tend to vote Labour and rural areas tend to vote Conservative; as the North has more urban areas than the South, it has more Labour councils. The London Boroughs of Newham and Barking & Dagenham join the South Yorkshire borough of Rotherham as the country's safest Labour councils.

Language and dialect

A prominent example of the divide, which is particularly referenced amongst university students, is the difference in speech between the north and south of the country. Although younger generations are less likely to use speech that is specific to a particular town, there is still a clear difference between north and south; young Northerners are more resistant to sounding as if they are Southern than sounding as if they are from a different Northern town.

The division is sometimes used for comedy, but has its serious side as well. The London media are sometimes claimed to look down upon those with northern English accents (or indeed any accent not perceived as south-eastern). This perception does not extend to Scottish accents, and it is not generally expected that a Scot should attempt to speak Standard English to succeed in a career. In politics, there are many high-profile figures who speak with Scottish accents whilst those with accents from the North of England are sometimes ridiculed. John Prescott is an example of the latter phenomenon; Ken Livingstone (a Londoner) suggested that the press's unsympathetic treatment of Prescott was partly due to the fact that he "speak[s] like ordinary people".

Explanation

Industrial decline in a post-Fordist world is most usually given as an explanation for the North-South divide, as raw materials such as coal and iron ore could be found in these areas. This led to comparatively high wealth; Shaw, Greater Manchester reportedly had the highest concentration of millionaires in the country at the time. It also led to over reliance on a few key industries and, as heavy industry began to leave the UK for developing countries under the 'New international division of Labour' , these areas declined rapidly. Events like the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) polarised public opinion and led to an increase in the divide. Although the three pits in Kent were solidly behind the strike, their remoteness from the other coalfields meant that it was mostly spared from violent clashes. During the dispute, it was decided that local police would be too sympathetic to the miners and policemen from southern counties other than Kent were drafted in to police the dispute, often being flown in by private aeroplanes. Accusations from the miners that the police were heavy handed or showed a demeaning attitude towards the North spread to create an atmosphere of resentment.

Cultural dimensions

There is also a perceived cultural divide between the north and the south. The It's Grim Up North BBC television series and subsequent book attempted to tease out some of these divisions. Those in the north complained of having fewer cultural opportunities, the book also provided a view of southern life as faceless and bland.

• Television

When Granada Television commenced commercial broadcasting, it decided to base its programmes from Manchester. Granada's strapline before both networked and regional programming was From The North, Granada Presents.... A large arrow pointing Upward (North) accompanied this. This encapsulates the cultural North-South divide, sectioning off The North from The South possibly to encite Northern Pride or to announce to Southerners that Granada was a strictly Northern television producer. The large arrow was there almost to symbolise where The North was. One can note that Granada Television's 1960s updated arrow (a G with an upwards arrow) was promenant on local idents and production endcaps until Granada's identity was divided between the ITV1 Granada and Granada Productions brands as part of the creation of ITV plc in 2004.

Counterbalancing the image of the Rich South/Poor North divide are television programmes like Cold Feet, Living On The Edge, Cranford and Footballers Wives. These programmes are examples of Yuppie-esque, rich or upper-class Northerners, a deviation from the stereotypical North; Only Fools and Horses is an example of poverty in Inner-London a typically Non-Southern Image.

One can note that during regional television and radio broadcasts, mainly South-Eastern Standard English accents are heard and there are very few regional or typically Northern accents. Northern accents are often regarded as humourous, celebrities like comedians Peter Kay and Johnny Vegas both have prominent Northern accents, one can also note that they fulfil the overweight stereotype for Northerners too.

Northern Soul is an ambiguous term that refers to the Soul-music following that was promenant in Northern towns such as Manchester and Wigan during the 1960s and 1970s and the Cultural or Social make-up of people from the North.

Some statistics show that the consumption of Alcohol and fast food seems to be higher in The North, with the UK's 14 'fattest cities' to the north or west of the dividing lines mentioned above.

Moreover, in terms of English identity, the North of England was the home territory of the Angles, whilst the South and South East was Saxon territory, which could also account, culturally, for differences in both parts of England. Both groups descending from Nordic tribes, of course, but the Angles being more Scandinavian in their make-up than the more Germanic Saxons. In a recent Channel 4 programme, many DNA tests were taken from across the many regions of the British Isles. Of these regions, the North of England (not including Cumbria) showed genetic evidence of the native Celtic populations having been driven out and replaced almost entirely by Angles. Southern England showed genetic evidence of the Celts having been driven out by the invading Saxons.

As a counter-argument to this, however, it is generally accepted by academic authorities on the genetic make-up of England, that the Angles and Saxons were gradually assimilated by the various Celtic peoples of England, through inter-marriage, for example, rather than the scenario of an invading horde of Germanic tribes displacing their Celtic hosts.

Another common observation regarding the North - South divide is the perception of group personality. It is often suggested that people are much friendlier, more open about themselves, more community minded, and more willing to express their emotions in the North, while Southerners, and more specifically inhabitants of London and the South East, are stereotypically portrayed as cool, aloof, reserved, devoid of emotion, preoccupied with privacy, and not terribly friendly. One is reminded how in the North people take pride in knowing all the neighbours up and down their block. Again, these are sweeping generalisations, but stereotypes such as these are prevalent in the British psyche.

The Midlands

Many Midlands towns and cities appear, at least historically, to have more in common with their northern counterparts than with those in the south. This is mainly because they have a history of concentrated industrialisation and post-industrial economic depression (especially in Birmingham, Coventry and Stoke-on-Trent), plus the dry ironic humour which is borne out of this, rather than the nonindustrialised 'service centre' and 'county' towns and cities of southern England, which are perceived to be singularly dominated by London (where the purpose of those towns was essentially to service the capital). The 2004 film Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, starring Ricky Tomlinson, was made very-much in the character of straight-talking and dry humoured northern comedies.

However, many Midlands towns and cities are now experiencing redevelopment, including the Birmingham Bullring complex which includes a branch of the upmarket Selfridges department store, and The Mailbox redevelopment which houses a branch of Harvey Nichols. Solihull metropolitan borough is one of the most affluent in the country.

Closing the Gap

Northern post-industrial cities and towns are now beginning to see a renaissance. Examples include Kingston upon Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Sheffield, and the Midlands city of Birmingham. A major new masterplan by British architect Will Alsop has been adopted for the regeneration of Barnsley. Some of the world's service industries and banks are relocating to northern cities, examples include the opening of Bank of New York, Google and RBS offices in Manchester. One can also note the present decentralisation of many BBC departments from London to Salford Quays, Greater Manchester. Typically southern upmarket department stores and shops have located new stores in the north; these include Harvey Nichols (in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham) and Selfridges (In Manchester and Birmingham). It should also be noted that poverty is widespread in Southern England due to the high cost of housing whilst unemployment and low-waged contingent jobs are on the increase in the south. Examples of this wage/property gap can be found in such places as Hastings, Eastbourne, Dover and the East End of London.

North-South divide in Wales

Wales is also sometimes talked about as having a North-South divide. The more urbanised south, containing cities such as Cardiff, Newport and Swansea is considered as the richer area, whereas the more mountainous North is seen as poorer. Cardiff and Newport in particular, are undergoing an economic boom.

The far south east is a continuation of the M4 corridor and contributes most to the economy in Wales, with a high concentration of high-tech industries. This area usually includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport, as well as the more rural areas of Monmouthshire, Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend. It has excellent transport links with properous London and southern England. The area only covers a small percentage of the total area of Wales but is home to a large proportion of the population. Swansea and Neath Port Talbot are also sometimes considered to be part of this more prosperous area along the M4 corridor, but the valleys are usually not because they continue to suffer from some of the highest rates of poverty in the UK.

The North of Wales consists of: Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey. There is an east west divide in the North where the West is much more culturally Welsh, with a high percentage of Welsh speakers, but due to its geography, there is little employment, making the area poor in comparison to the East. Wrexham and Flintshire together have the same GDP as Cardiff, however, this is based on its industrial and manufacturing base. However, they have very little cultural strength in comparison to the southern areas. Historical reasons for this can be seen through the location of Offa's Dyke. Both Flintshire and parts of Wrexham are on the English side. This area is much less mountainous, and leads to the Cheshire and North Shropshire plains.

The large, central areas of Wales (Powys and Ceredigion) are ambiguous in terms of being North or South. These areas are fairly prosperous but sparsely populated so many people living here travel into the surrounding areas for employment. Equally, there would be ambiguity over Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. While very much in the southern half of the country, they are less urbanised than elsewhere in the south.

Furthermore, there is also a small-scale north-south divide in Pembrokeshire; the south, known as 'Little England beyond Wales', is more Anglicised and wealthy than the rest of the county, creating a microcosm of the overall Welsh division.

The 1984-5 miners' strike also divided Wales. South Wales was strongly behind the strike whilst only around a third of the workforce in North Wales ever went on strike. South Wales miners were often displeased with the lack of solidarity in North Wales.

See also

• The Myers Project. North and South

• North-South divide