Political Discontent Across English Regions: The Role of Economic Grievances in the North South Divide

Most nations exhibit regional inequality and the developing wisdom among ‘elites’ is that ‘peripheral’, ‘left-behind’ regions are more dissatisfied with politics: however, the ways that regional inequality can affect discontent are theoretically underspecified and hardly tested empirically. In the context of the UK, I explore three mechanisms. First, I consider location in the core-periphery; second, perceptions about the economic performance of one’s own region, third, feelings that one’s region is in ‘relative deprivation’ in relation to the capital, London. I confirm that Northern, ‘peripheral’ regions are more dissatisfied than the ‘core’, London. Second, the more negative people are about their own region’s economy, the more likely they are to express discontent, helping to explain the greater discontent people report in the ‘peripheral’ North of England specifically. Third, I find that ‘relative deprivation’ is associated with increased discontent. This effect is strongest for people who have a sense of belonging to their region, and is consistent with a ‘group justification’ argument whereby people who feel ‘left behind’ displace this onto political actors to ‘justify’ their group’s situation. These results are, in theory, generalisable, but particularly shine light on the political challenge of reducing discontent through investing in struggling regions in the UK.