tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/north-england-10577/articlesNorth England – The Conversation2020-11-16T15:23:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1494062020-11-16T15:23:24Z2020-11-16T15:23:24ZSMEs are a bedrock of the British economy – so why is it so hard to get northern enterprises funded?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369598/original/file-20201116-17-r8mfmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C2673%2C1509&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bustling businesses in Manchester feel like a distant memory</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/manchester-united-kingdom-april-11-2017-1072210547">trabantos/shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A wave of job cuts primarily hitting young people has seen unemployment levels increase to a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/147178b0-0330-4943-b485-f1f4b527febf">record 4.8%</a> in the UK. Through the pandemic, the British government has tried to establish support for jobs by creating – and recently extending – a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme">job-retention scheme</a>. It has also <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19">provided support</a> for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by offering grants and loans and by postponing VAT payments to prevent companies from defaulting, delaying the <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/jobs-jobs-jobs/">inevitable surge of future unemployment</a>.</p>
<p>SMEs are considered the bedrock of the UK economy. In 2019, SMEs comprised <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06152/">over 99% of all businesses</a>. There are 5.9 million SMEs, and they employ over 15 million people, generating a turnover of around £2.2 trillion. Most businesses in the north of England are SMEs. Nevertheless, SME founders who operate in the northern region were facing huge financial challenges long before the pandemic occurred.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/British_Business_Bank_Small_Business_Finance_Markets_Report_2019.pdf">evidence clearly</a> shows that the centralised nature of the UK economy hinders future investment for high-growth firms in the north. Most private investors are heavily concentrated in the City of London and the south of England, specifically Oxford and Cambridge. Additionally, there is insufficient desire from high street banks to loan SMEs the investments that are needed for research and development as well as future growth, preferring to put their money into more secure, established businesses.</p>
<p>The City of London offers a template for the rapid growth of innovation-led enterprises. Most of the UK “unicorns”, privately owned startups that have amassed a worth of over US$1 billion (£760 million), such as Monzo, Ocado and Deliveroo, are located in London. This vibrant ecosystem is heavily supported by private and public sectors, as well as private investors and higher education institutions, in an environment rife with skilled and talented people. </p>
<p>This gap in funding contributes massively to the UK “<a href="https://www.pwc.co.uk/economic-services/ukeo/ukeo-november-2019-regional-productivity.pdf">productivity puzzle</a>” where northern SMEs have substantially <a href="https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/smes-and-productivity-in-the-northern-powerhouse-final-report">lower rates</a> of productivity compared with southern SMEs. The “left behind” de-industrialised cities and towns in the north of England suffer from a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00343404.2019.1606419?utm_campaign=JOI11103&utm_medium=cms&utm_source=CPB&journalCode=cres20">systemic lack of investment</a> in key infrastructure, or a skilled workforce that would build economic growth and a resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem. </p>
<p>The northern region has been part of a broader government focus on policy in recent years in reaction to criticisms of London-centrism. The Northern Powerhouse vision laid out by government seeks to reduce the historic north-south divide by bolstering economic prosperity through investment, alongside a general promise to “level-up” the north. However, the current pandemic has shed an important light on deep <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c9db4c66-5971-11ea-a528-dd0f971febbc">regional inequalities</a> that face the UK, posing important questions about the serious need to deliver strategies and investment commitments.</p>
<p>To understand the nature of the local investment landscape in the Leeds city region, I collaborated with SME founders, business support managers and civil servants to understand <a href="https://business.leeds.ac.uk/cees/dir-record/research-blog/1527/funding-4-0-the-state-of-funding-in-the-leeds-city-region">what is missing in the funding landscape</a>. They indicated that new local entrepreneurs face substantial entry barriers when navigating the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, which includes the funding and business support available in the region.</p>
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<img alt="The arcades in Leeds" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369308/original/file-20201113-13-g5t1s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C2339%2C1620&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369308/original/file-20201113-13-g5t1s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369308/original/file-20201113-13-g5t1s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369308/original/file-20201113-13-g5t1s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369308/original/file-20201113-13-g5t1s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369308/original/file-20201113-13-g5t1s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369308/original/file-20201113-13-g5t1s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Leeds Arcades is home to many SMEs hit hard by the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/shopping-arcade-leeds-uk-1287761">WH CHOW/shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>To provide clarity and transparency for new businesses trying to weather the storm of the pandemic, with the collaboration of different stakeholders, we mapped out the funding landscape in the Leeds city region. The map offers an entry point — by no means conclusive of the dynamic funding landscape — to help entrepreneurs navigate the unfamiliar terrain of funding and business support. It highlights various funding types, such as venture capital, public funding and support, and crowdfunding platforms, available for different business stages. You can see a PDF of the map <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1328/Funding_Visual_Map.pdf?1605531006">here</a>.</p>
<p>From this map and other accumulated evidence, it is clear that early-stage ventures face a systemic lack of funding, forcing them to be heavily reliant on friends and family as well as their personal finances when beginning their own businesses. This is challenging for many aspiring entrepreneurs and self-employed people who want to create new, innovative markets or who simply want to make a living in this difficult economic environment.</p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic offered a sharp test for the one-size-fits-all strategy for providing regional support. A tailored and more comprehensive local approach that creates an investment architecture to support this growing economy is necessary to support the diverse nature of businesses in the north. </p>
<p>Finally, the pledge to level the left-behind cities, especially after the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, is vital to ensure the creation of new jobs and to accelerate the economic recovery in the region. This can be made by applying the foundations of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-industrial-strategies-policy-prospectus/local-industrial-strategies-policy-prospectus">local industrial strategy</a> to the creation of tactical interventions that can support SMEs and microbusinesses, and create a level playing field in the UK economy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sherif Youssef receives funding from ESRC IAA DTP Business Boost Project.</span></em></p>Economic support for small and medium enterprises requires a regional approach.Sherif Youssef, Doctoral Researcher, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1261622019-11-05T15:04:48Z2019-11-05T15:04:48ZCan the Conservative Party win in the North of England?<p>The upcoming UK election is likely to be the most volatile and unpredictable in modern times. In order to win a majority, the Conservative Party will be targeting Leave-voting seats in the North of England – many of which have long been Labour strongholds.</p>
<p>The Conservatives are seeking to win over the so-called “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-50239341">Workington Man</a>”. This, apparently, is an older, white, Brexit-voting man from a former industrial town (such as Workington in Cumbria) who has traditionally voted Labour but could perhaps be tempted to consider the Conservatives now.</p>
<p>But will this strategy succeed? The extent to which Brexit identities trump traditional party-political allegiance in determining voter choice will be a key factor. </p>
<p>The North voted 56% to 44% in favour of Leave. However, it broadly represented the national picture of more deprived towns opting for Leave and cities and more affluent places backing Remain. The characterisation of the North as overwhelmingly Leave supporting is therefore inaccurate.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there are many places across the North where support for Leave was high and this could help the Conservatives. Brexit identities – being a “Leaver” and “Remainer” – have become increasingly significant political labels for much of the electorate. They are now <a href="https://ukandeu.ac.uk/brexit-identities-how-leave-versus-remain-replaced-conservative-versus-labour-affiliations-of-british-voters/">more important</a> than party allegiance in some cases. If this proves to be the case in this election it may well be that Boris Johnson’s position as an ardent Leaver wins him votes in Leave-supporting towns in the North. </p>
<p>But the failure to secure an exit from the EU on the October 31 deadline may go against the party, particularly if the Conservatives are faced with an attack from the Brexit Party on this front. While it is unlikely that the Brexit Party will win any seats in the North themselves, they may split the Leave vote enough to ensure that the Conservative do not actually benefit significantly from any Leave-Remain voting divides. At present, it seems unlikely there will be a formal alliance between the two parties to prevent this from happening.</p>
<p>Labour may also lose votes in the North because of their position on Brexit but this will probably be less damaging than a Conservative-Brexit Party voter split will be for Johnson’s party. </p>
<h2>Towns and cities</h2>
<p>The Leave-Remain divide is not the only issue that the 2016 referendum brought to the fore. The divide between Leave and Remain and towns and cities connects with what has been termed <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/two-englands-and-divided-world">a cosmopolitan-communitarian divide</a>. This encompasses political divides along education, social class and age lines. These divides have long existed but increased in prominence at the EU vote and were also notable at the 2017 election.</p>
<p>In terms of the impact of this on party support, it now appears that the young, the more highly educated, professionals and more liberal-minded voters are increasingly likely to vote Labour. Meanwhile, older, less well educated, semi-skilled workers and those with a more socially conservative outlook are increasingly likely to back the Conservatives. </p>
<p>This goes beyond Brexit. Socially conservative voters – many of whom self-identify as working-class and tend to hold fewer formal qualifications – who are concerned about cultural identity, national security, and value a “sense of belonging” have been <a href="https://labourlist.org/2015/08/labour-has-to-stop-patronising-socially-conservative-voters/">deserting Labour</a> since at least the 2015 election. </p>
<p>Then it was largely to UKIP – but this time around it is likely that these voters will find greater appeal in the Conservative’s pledges to both increase public spending and “take back control” rather than Labour’s more radical policy proposals. For many such voters, Labour and <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/jeremy-corbyn-has-lowest-leadership-satisfaction-rating-any-opposition-leader-1977">Jeremy Corbyn</a> in particular are perceived to pose a threat to the values they hold dearest. </p>
<p>This is significant because, when viewed as a whole, the North is disadvantaged in socioeconomic terms relative to much of the rest of England. In many constituencies across the North, working-class, socially conservative voters like those described above are a key demographic. As such, it is likely that the Conservatives will benefit there from this changing nature of party support in the forthcoming election. But the extent to which they will do so remains unclear as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629818304712">there is evidence</a> that the Conservatives still fail to connect with the most disadvantaged voters.</p>
<p>Since becoming prime minister, Johnson has attempted to appeal to poorer areas of the North, pledging to <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-northern-powerhouse-george-osborne-theresa-may-yorkshire-north-economy-581130">reboot the Northern Powerhouse agenda</a> and promising <a href="https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/boris-johnson-says-its-governments-17018597">greater investment in the region</a> as well as in public services nationally. </p>
<p>With Labour also campaigning strongly on <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/power-up-north-jeremy-corbyn-16408772">tackling regional inequality</a> this could become a key debate. The question of whether the Conservatives remain too “toxic” a brand for many Northerners may prove pivotal here.</p>
<p>It seems likely that the Conservatives will have their best performance in decades in the North of England at the 2019 election, at least in terms of the number of votes gained. They will pick up additional support across the region because of their position on Brexit and from socially conservative voters in traditional Labour areas turning their back on the party in line with the cosmopolitan-communitarian divide.</p>
<p>But it is likely that this will still prove to be insufficient in terms of winning a significant number of seats in the North because of potential splits in the Leave vote, the historic distrust of the Conservatives that persists across much of the North, and the sheer scale of Labour majorities in the types of seats the Conservatives will be seeking to win. </p>
<p>If the party is pinning its hopes of winning a majority on a breakthrough in the North then it may struggle to remain in government following the election – particularly if it loses seats to the SNP in Scotland and the Liberal Democrats in the South of England. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKGE2019&utm_content=GEBannerA">Click here to subscribe to our newsletter if you believe this election should be all about the facts.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>My PhD research is funded by an Economic and Social Research Council scholarship.
</span></em></p>In order to win a majority in the upcoming election the Conservative Party is targeting traditional Labour strongholds that voted Leave.Ryan Swift, PhD Researcher in Politics, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/990002018-07-03T13:44:31Z2018-07-03T13:44:31ZMedieval tips to revive England’s struggling cathedrals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225935/original/file-20180703-116117-1jjly63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1254%2C0%2C1881%2C1345&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/adteasdale/12157033835/sizes/l">ADTeasdale/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In many parts of England, cathedrals face a financial crisis: they are expensive to maintain, often need renovations and are almost entirely self-funded – which means they are under constant pressure to raise more money and attract new visitors. If they don’t, they run the risk of spiralling into irrelevance and disrepair. </p>
<p>According to their own figures, Ely Cathedral costs <a href="https://www.elycathedral.org/visit">£6,000</a> daily to maintain; Winchester, <a href="http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/support-us/">£10,000</a>; Peterborough, <a href="http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/peterborough-900/make-a-donation.aspx">£3,700</a>; Worcester, <a href="http://worcestercathedral.co.uk/Support_Us.php">£7,500</a>; and Norwich, <a href="https://www.cathedral.org.uk/about/support-our-future">£4,000</a>. These figures do not account for additional conservation efforts. </p>
<p>Worse, many cathedrals are experiencing <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/2016cathedralstatistics_0.pdf">stagnating</a> or <a href="https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/18-august/news/uk/visit-england-report-sharp-drop-in-visitor-numbers-to-churches-and-cathedrals">falling visitor numbers</a>, caused by rising secularity as well as in part by the sense that cathedrals are a bit old fashioned, and perhaps lack attractions that could appeal to young families. Yet in medieval times, cathedrals were fundraising powerhouses, drawing pilgrims (and donations) from near and far. Here’s how their centuries-old techniques can be applied today, to revive the fortunes of England’s cathedrals once more. </p>
<h2>Saints and the city</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225928/original/file-20180703-116135-9iujrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225928/original/file-20180703-116135-9iujrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225928/original/file-20180703-116135-9iujrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=890&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225928/original/file-20180703-116135-9iujrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=890&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225928/original/file-20180703-116135-9iujrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=890&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225928/original/file-20180703-116135-9iujrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1119&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225928/original/file-20180703-116135-9iujrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1119&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225928/original/file-20180703-116135-9iujrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1119&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Thomas Becket, Canterbury Cathedral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/16136026342/sizes/l">Lawrence OP/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Medieval cathedrals faced similar challenges to their modern counterparts: they also had to raise money from visitors in order to maintain and renovate their buildings. Their fundraising strategies centred around saintly relics: bodies, body parts or even items that had touched a holy person were central to many medieval devotions. Local communities created elaborate shrines, which attracted pilgrims, who donated money or gifts in kind to visit. </p>
<p>Many modern English cathedrals were founded by men and women who later became the patron saints of their communities. Patron saints were thought to protect the people of the city and its surroundings, and the presence of their bodies in the city often allowed it to reap financial and political benefits. For example, consider the rise of Canterbury as a tourist centre after <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/becket_thomas.shtml">the murder and burial</a> of St Thomas Becket there in the 12th century. </p>
<p>Smaller cities also held saints’ relics. The body of <a href="https://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/heritage/collections/st-cuthbert-treasures">St Cuthbert</a> – patron saint of modern day Northumberland – lay at Durham Cathedral from the 12th century. Ely was home to the remains of its patron, St <a href="https://www.elycathedral.org/history-heritage/the-story-of-ely-cathedral">Æthelthryth</a> (also known as Etheldreda or Audrey), who founded the community in the 7th century. And Lincoln prided itself as the home of <a href="https://lincolncathedral.com/history-conservation/timeline/">St Hugh</a>, the 12th-century bishop and friend of King John. Cathedrals in Winchester, Gloucester and many other cities also served as burial places for illustrious <a href="http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/our-heritage/royal-connections/">royals</a>, <a href="http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/our-heritage/famous-people/st-swithun/">bishops</a> and <a href="http://www.thecityofgloucester.co.uk/things-to-do/st-oswalds-priory-p1103093">saints</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225931/original/file-20180703-116129-rju6at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225931/original/file-20180703-116129-rju6at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225931/original/file-20180703-116129-rju6at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225931/original/file-20180703-116129-rju6at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225931/original/file-20180703-116129-rju6at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225931/original/file-20180703-116129-rju6at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225931/original/file-20180703-116129-rju6at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Ely cathedral: divine splendour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/garyullah/12859326563/sizes/l">Gary Ullah/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Medieval English communities often used their relics in pageants and processions. Miracle plays, which reenacted miracles performed by the saint, were performed on holy days within the cathedral grounds. Processions of the relics, including relic tours through nearby towns or around the city, were often performed immediately before or after a construction project, and raised funds for the cathedral. </p>
<p>Later in the Middle Ages, communities also performed mystery plays, where actors recreated scenes from the Bible. These plays were quite interactive, with audience participation, and could last for several days, bringing visitors from the surrounding regions into town and allowing for a wider community to participate in events within the cathedral.</p>
<h2>A modern-day miracle</h2>
<p>There are already indications that a return to processions, pageants and plays could help change the fortunes of modern cathedrals. York is well-known <a href="https://www.exploreyork.org.uk/the-original-york-mystery-plays-return-for-their-20th-year-this-september/">for its mystery plays</a>. Chester renewed its mystery plays, and has recently seen a <a href="https://chestercathedral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Chester-Cathedral-Strategic-Plan-2018-2020.pdf">five-fold increase</a> in visitor numbers. Norwich also adopted mystery plays in recent decades, and currently <a href="https://www.cathedral.org.uk/docs/default-source/Strategic-Plan/norwich_cathedral_strategic_plan_2015-2020_-_low_res.pdf?sfvrsn=6">projects a budgetary surplus</a> for the 2018-19 financial year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225929/original/file-20180703-116143-1725fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225929/original/file-20180703-116143-1725fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225929/original/file-20180703-116143-1725fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225929/original/file-20180703-116143-1725fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225929/original/file-20180703-116143-1725fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225929/original/file-20180703-116143-1725fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225929/original/file-20180703-116143-1725fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chester’s mystery play, 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/shricthism/2685424176/sizes/l">Shricthism/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cathedrals are places of worship. But they can also be sites of historical interest, alongside medieval castles, Roman forts and stately homes. Exploring the roles that cathedrals have played in developing English cities during medieval times has given <a href="https://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/heritage/collections/st-cuthbert-treasures">Durham</a>, <a href="http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/our-heritage/cathedral-treasures/the-winchester-bible-details/">Winchester</a> and <a href="http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/home/campaign-objectives.aspx">Peterborough</a> cathedrals a financial boost, as they have built <a href="http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/conservation-action/kings-and-scribes-the-birth-of-a-nation/">new visitor centres</a> and opened <a href="https://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/visit-us/open-treasure">permanent medieval exhibitions</a> in recent years, or are in the process of doing so today.</p>
<p>Reconnecting with their patron saints could also be financially beneficial for English cathedrals. These men and women often had an important part in establishing and building the city. And while the saints’ relics may no longer be in shrines – most of which were <a href="http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/tudors/religion/">destroyed in the Reformation</a> – many cathedrals still commemorate the saint; whether with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelthryth">plaque on the floor</a>, a statue or a <a href="https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/history/bede">modern shrine</a>. </p>
<p>These articles can be used to bring history to life, in the form of processions or pageants – just like in medieval times. Performing tours with statues of the saints – especially if they are connected to existing heritage festivals – can remind residents of the important part the cathedral has played in their city’s history. </p>
<p>Connecting cathedrals to the city’s historical figures or events can help them retain relevance in an increasingly secular society. This, in turn, encourages more people to visit the cathedral itself. There’s no reason why cathedrals can’t still be big attractions, if local communities embrace the pageantry and rituals that celebrate their city’s history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99000/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Wiedenheft does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Medieval cathedrals were fund raising powerhouses – it’s time to let history live again.Elizabeth Wiedenheft, PhD in Medieval History, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/990442018-07-01T09:22:48Z2018-07-01T09:22:48ZEngland’s north-south divide is history – but the nation’s rifts are deepening<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225519/original/file-20180629-117422-1ixiqdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=370%2C0%2C7405%2C4187&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tyne-bridge-blue-hour-1095632717?src=ZTu9vxwFhdpHtqY5cw2pUQ-1-17">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The north of England is as much of a myth as a material reality. Its particular economic, political, social and geographic qualities give it a unique character, distinct from the south of England. Since 1980s de-industrialisation, the north <a href="https://www4.shu.ac.uk/research/cresr/sites/shu.ac.uk/files/cresr30th-jobs-welfare-austerity.pdf">has been characterised</a> as a region in decline. But this summer’s <a href="https://getnorth2018.com/">Great Exhibition of the North</a> is redressing this perception, by promoting the region’s vibrant culture and putting the fruits of its current artistic renaissance on show. </p>
<p>Yet among the flurry of exhibitions, performances, concerts and installations for locals and visitors to see, hear and play with, it’s becoming clear that the old north-south divide is fading – and new fissures are emerging in its place. </p>
<p>The rivalry between north and south has deep historical roots, which continue to shape the attitudes of people in both regions today. From <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_North_south_Divide.html?id=LvbBAAAAIAAJ">the military successes</a> of southern kings in the Middle ages, to the economic triumph of the south from the early 20th century onwards, historians have portrayed the south as dominating the north. By the end of the 19th century, the “southern metaphor” for an idealised English identity – typified by imagery of a bucolic rural idyll and in marked contrast to the industrial associations of the north – had won out, and the north fell outside common perceptions of “authentic” England. </p>
<p>Today, southern views of northern character often view northern qualities as truculent, insensitive, unsophisticated, intrusive and parochial. By contrast, northerners typically <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/06/the-north-by-paul-morley-review/">see themselves</a> as independent-minded, straight-talking, practical, friendly and meritocratic. Southerners, meanwhile, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fGI3Bgy54OcC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=dave+russell+the+north+in+the+national+imagination&ots=zh4cnysaCz&sig=BPKgfcIx3Sjv75EGkfkAmCXitug#v=onepage&q=dave%20russell%20the%20north%20in%20the%20national%20imagination&f=false">are viewed</a> as privileged, wasteful, unfriendly and nepotistic. </p>
<p>Yet the very developments in the north’s creative and cultural industries, which are highlighted by the Great Exhibition of the North, also point to changes in England’s economic landscape. As a result, these deep-rooted and divisive stereotypes could soon become very dated indeed. </p>
<h2>The southern North</h2>
<p>Across most regions of the UK, the creative sector (which includes the design, software and digital, advertising, film, broadcasting, architecture, publishing, music and performing arts industries) <a href="https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/the-geography-of-creativity-in-the-uk/">have supplanted</a> the service sector (banking and finance) to become the fastest growing business sector. </p>
<p>This is evident in the emergence of “creative clusters” – agglomerations of businesses, workers and other important institutions, such as universities and business networks, relating to the creative industries. Some 47 creative clusters <a href="https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/the-geography-of-creativity-in-the-uk/">have been identified</a> across the UK, and it’s perhaps unsurprising – given London’s long-established prominence in the cultural industries – that around a third of these are located in London and south-east England. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225511/original/file-20180629-117367-hcgyg5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225511/original/file-20180629-117367-hcgyg5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225511/original/file-20180629-117367-hcgyg5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225511/original/file-20180629-117367-hcgyg5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225511/original/file-20180629-117367-hcgyg5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225511/original/file-20180629-117367-hcgyg5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225511/original/file-20180629-117367-hcgyg5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225511/original/file-20180629-117367-hcgyg5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">England’s creative clusters, mapped.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nesta</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet just over one-fifth of the nation’s creative clusters are located in the North – traditionally thought to lack the cultural prestige of the capital. <a href="https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/the-geography-of-creativity-in-the-uk/">A report</a> by innovation foundation NESTA reveals strong connections between clusters which are geographically close to each other: for example, clusters in Bristol, Bath and Cardiff in the south-west, as well as those in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool in the north. </p>
<p>Cities such as Sheffield to the east of Manchester, and south of Leeds, also feed into these northern clusters, together with towns including Warrington, Wigan, Chester, Crewe and Harrogate. This grouping strengthens the evidence for a distinctive “southern north” territory, independent from the “wider north” to be found to the south, east and north of this region (the Irish Sea in the west acts as a natural boundary). </p>
<h2>The new divides</h2>
<p>Manchester is one of Europe’s <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/real-estate/articles/manchester-crane-survey.html">fastest growing cities</a>, while Liverpool and Leeds <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/510bd2bc-dbbf-11e5-98fd-06d75973fe09">are also experiencing</a> substantial property development and regeneration. This rapid economic growth is coupled with a geographic remove from other creative clusters in the north, which are centred on Middlesbrough and Newcastle – 42 and 68 miles north of Harrogate respectively. </p>
<p>There are strong media production and arts facilities across the southern North region: the growth of the Yorkshire area film and TV industries <a href="https://www.screenyorkshire.co.uk/yorkshire-uks-fastest-growing-region-film-tv/">has outstripped</a> that of every other part of the UK. <a href="http://www.screenyorkshire.co.uk">Screen Yorkshire</a> is unambiguously the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed of the eight remaining <a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/film-industry/british-certification-tax-relief/national-regional-film-agencies">English regional screen agencies</a>. </p>
<p>This influence has tangible effects: most of what is seen of the north is captured in film, TV and pop music, which focus mainly on the former industrial heartlands of south Lancashire and west to south-west Yorkshire – probably because that’s where modern film and television industries are based. So it’s not just economically, but also culturally, that the southern North is rising to prominence on the national stage. </p>
<p>What’s more, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7cdnx">experts suggest</a> that the <a href="https://www.hs2.org.uk/">HS2 rail programme</a> – which will reduce travel time between Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and London – is likely to draw the southern North even further away from the influence of the wider north, and towards southern cities such as London. </p>
<p>So, as Newcastle and Gateshead continues with the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/513637/AnnexB-Competitiondocument__4_.docx">hard-won honour</a> of hosting the Great Exhibition of the North, it’s worth reflecting on the definition of that label. Clearly, there are significant variations in economic and cultural output within the north of England. Before our very eyes, a new north-south divide is emerging, within what was previously understood as “the north” itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99044/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Atkinson has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Board for an MA study (1995) and a PhD study (1998). The latter was on the topic of the modern mythology of Liverpool, and both studies were at the University of Lancaster. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Great Exhibition of the North is putting paid to tired stereotypes of the region – but now, the North itself is becoming divided.Alan Hughes, Postdoctoral researcher, University of Central LancashirePeter Atkinson, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, BA Film, Media and Popular Culture, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/663482016-10-04T13:46:07Z2016-10-04T13:46:07ZThe north remembers: why Conservatives still get a frosty reception in key regions<p>Despite a few <a href="http://www.morleyobserver.co.uk/news/local/election-2015-conservative-andrea-jenkyns-takes-morley-and-outwood-seat-from-ed-balls-1-7250996">high-profile victories in the north of England</a> in the 2015 general election, the Conservative Party continues to lag behind in the region.</p>
<p>As members meet in Birmingham, there is much talk of the mayoral elections coming up in 2017 – particularly the high-profile contests in Manchester and Liverpool. Reversing the historic lack of support for the Conservatives in that part of England will be important if the party’s candidates are to make an impression. </p>
<p>Theresa May, the new prime minister, might also see winning the north of England as a key part of her version of “One Nation” Conservativism. The streets of Birmingham are currently covered in signs about building a country that “works for everyone” and that must surely include people beyond the south east of England. </p>
<p>If we take “the north” to be the north-east, the north-west, and Yorkshire and the Humber, the scale of the Conservatives’ problem is clear. Nationally, the party won 50.8% of seats in 2015. In northern England they managed to win just 27.8%.</p>
<p>David Cameron’s modernisation programme was designed to rehabilitate the Conservative image across the country. There was much talk of the Conservatives attempting to appeal to northern voters directly, such as with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-northern-powerhouse-what-actually-is-it-50927">Northern Powerhouse</a> investment programme.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140331/original/image-20161004-20230-1s4821l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140331/original/image-20161004-20230-1s4821l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140331/original/image-20161004-20230-1s4821l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140331/original/image-20161004-20230-1s4821l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140331/original/image-20161004-20230-1s4821l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140331/original/image-20161004-20230-1s4821l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140331/original/image-20161004-20230-1s4821l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140331/original/image-20161004-20230-1s4821l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Northern problem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Jeffery</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But if policies such as the Northern Powerhouse had appealed to northern voters, we would have expected a boost in the northern Conservative vote share between the 2010 and 2015 general elections. Yet the increase was just 0.3 of a percentage point compared to a national lift of 0.6 of a percentage point (hardly worth Osborne donning his hi-vis jacket so many times).</p>
<p>Similarly, if Conservative fortunes in the north were lacking due to negative feelings towards <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/10/21/why-northerners-dont-vote-tory/">“posh boys”</a> George Osborne and David Cameron, we might have expected to see things changing under Theresa May – and they haven’t as yet.</p>
<p>Conservative <a href="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/5yng128b6c/TimesResults_160809_VI_Trackers_Website.pdf">vote share</a> in the north lingers between seven and ten points behind the UK as a whole.</p>
<h2>Appealing to the heart</h2>
<p>Unfortunately for May, the Conservative Party’s problem runs deeper than policy or perceptions of individuals. Living standards and ideology are not to blame either – northern England is not so different from the rest of the country to explain such large differences.</p>
<p>It is the party brand itself which is the biggest drag on northern Tory voting. <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/10/21/why-northerners-dont-vote-tory/">Research</a> from 2013 showed the largest gap between northern and southern voters, and the highest absolute numbers, was on the view that “Conservatives care more about the rich and affluent than ordinary people” – 62% of southern voters felt this, compared to 73% of northern voters.</p>
<p>This brand problem can be traced back to the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, when northern economies and councils were hit hardest by the decline in manufacturing and council budgets. In many areas of the north, being anti-Conservative/anti-Thatcher is seen as a badge of honour, and even tied up in local identities – a prime example being Liverpool.</p>
<p>While the Northern Powerhouse appeals to voters’ heads and wallets, the Conservatives are failing to appeal to their hearts. This is the vital missing link which May must address in order to close the polling gap between the north of England and the rest of the UK. As it stands, next year’s mayoral races are about the only thing Labour feels even remotely confident about at the moment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66348/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Jeffery receives funding from Queen Mary University of London and the ESRC, and is a Conservative Party member... from Liverpool. He is writing in a personal capacity. </span></em></p>Despite efforts to appeal to the minds and the wallets of those in the north, the Tories have yet to win hearts.David Jeffery, PhD Candidate, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/561682016-03-24T11:36:46Z2016-03-24T11:36:46ZHere’s what architecture can teach us about building the Northern Powerhouse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116353/original/image-20160324-17838-z22n4z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luke Willett</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>George Osborne’s cuts to disability benefits have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-two-big-failures-of-george-osbornes-budget-56753">stopped in their tracks</a>, and the chancellor’s grand scheme to reinvigorate the North of England now faces its own challenges. </p>
<p>Osborne’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellor-we-need-a-northern-powerhouse">vision for a “Northern Powerhouse”</a> will see new mayors, improved transport links and a cultural and economic resurgence in northern cities over the coming years. But while it sounds like a liberation for the north, which has long been living in the shadow of <a href="https://theconversation.com/osborne-needs-to-look-beyond-the-north-south-divide-if-hes-serious-about-sharing-the-wealth-39333">London’s economy</a>, there are still big question marks over which cities will actually benefit, and how. Some <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/big-hitters-gather-manchester-discuss-10263705">reckoned that</a> Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle would be included – though there have since <a href="http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/north-east-devolution-doubts-after-11079111">been complications</a>. </p>
<p>Even if we set aside these details, <a href="http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/g/gateshead_east/">competition between the industrial cities</a> of the north has often made meaningful collaboration impossible. If the Northern Powerhouse is to draw out a common sense of regional identity, northerners must be persuaded to overcome the vanity of small differences noisily played out on football terraces during derby fixtures. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116269/original/image-20160323-28182-1jfzw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116269/original/image-20160323-28182-1jfzw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116269/original/image-20160323-28182-1jfzw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116269/original/image-20160323-28182-1jfzw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116269/original/image-20160323-28182-1jfzw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116269/original/image-20160323-28182-1jfzw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116269/original/image-20160323-28182-1jfzw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Manchester Town Hall: sight for sore eyes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Square,_Manchester#/media/File:Manchester_town_hall.jpg">Julius/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That’s where architecture <a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415343763">can step in</a>: it provides both historical continuity, and a sense of identity. The wealth generated by the industrial revolution is embodied in the proud 18th and 19th-century buildings that define the streets of northern cities. Just think of the classical face of <a href="http://www.litandphil.org.uk/">Newcastle’s Literary and Philosophical Society</a>, or the imposing Gothic clock tower of <a href="http://www.manchester.gov.uk/townhall/info/8/about_the_town_hall">Manchester’s Town Hall</a>. Over the years, buildings like these have helped to foster a sense of local civic pride and communal history. </p>
<p>Now, the new economic resurgence promised by the Northern Powerhouse calls for contemporary architecture which also feels timeless and of its place. Unfortunately, many of the buildings constructed over the last 15 years have proved uninspiring, and the public <a href="http://www.farrellreview.co.uk/">tends to have</a> low expectations for new developments. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116263/original/image-20160323-28176-1jv39bs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116263/original/image-20160323-28176-1jv39bs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116263/original/image-20160323-28176-1jv39bs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116263/original/image-20160323-28176-1jv39bs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116263/original/image-20160323-28176-1jv39bs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116263/original/image-20160323-28176-1jv39bs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116263/original/image-20160323-28176-1jv39bs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trinity Square: eyesore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/more.php?id=3827802">Graham Robson/geograph</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many are hidden behind a hotchpotch of “cladding” – a surface applied to external walls for aesthetic purposes. Some of these structures use cladding artificially to break up their visual uniformity, while others – such as 3D Reid’s Trinity Square shopping centre at Gateshead – befuddle the eye with “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zty8tfr">dazzle camouflage</a>”. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116268/original/image-20160323-28206-ttnige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116268/original/image-20160323-28206-ttnige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116268/original/image-20160323-28206-ttnige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116268/original/image-20160323-28206-ttnige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116268/original/image-20160323-28206-ttnige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1209&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116268/original/image-20160323-28206-ttnige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1209&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116268/original/image-20160323-28206-ttnige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1209&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art: sadly not the norm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/73064996@N08/7845566292/sizes/l">Jimmy McIntyre/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, this is not universally true. Lottery and EU-funded landmark cultural institutions, such as the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and the Sage – both on Gateshead Quayside – helped to change the perceptions of Tyneside from <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/pet/">post-industrial blight</a> to a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11563325">green and sustainable</a> <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/a-night-on-the-toon-1602520.html">party city</a>. </p>
<p>But it is not the cultural buildings which make up the bulk of our built environment. Today, it is mainly private companies or remote institutions such as universities and NHS trusts who have most influence over our cityscapes – and they are more accountable to boards and shareholders than to the general public. So it is these organisations which need to buy into the Northern Powerhouse, not just as an economic or political transformation, but as a social one. </p>
<h2>A northern architecture</h2>
<p>The characteristics of a northern architecture should respond to its landscapes and climate. The glowering hills of the Lake District and the windswept moors of north Northumberland are desolate and sublime – not pretty. Buildings here are traditionally elemental, like the weather. They have to be robust, and consequently they improve with use, wear and patina. </p>
<p>For example, Vanbrugh’s muscular English Baroque found a natural home on the north-east coast, providing a theatrical backdrop to the tragic farces of the Delaval family. This old secondary <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/seaton-delaval-hall">residence</a>, completed in 1728, is <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/concrete-buildings-brutalist-beauty-9057223.html">considered by some</a> to be part of the ancestral DNA for Brutalism. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116277/original/image-20160323-28173-17br8n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116277/original/image-20160323-28173-17br8n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116277/original/image-20160323-28173-17br8n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116277/original/image-20160323-28173-17br8n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116277/original/image-20160323-28173-17br8n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116277/original/image-20160323-28173-17br8n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116277/original/image-20160323-28173-17br8n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Manchester’s mills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_mill#/media/File:McConnel_%26_Company_mills,_about_1820.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Northern architecture plays out our love-hate relationship with the legacy of the industrial era. For example, the “dark, satanic mills” of William Blake’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/poems/jerusalem.shtml">Jerusalem</a> are now art galleries and fashionable apartments, having <a href="http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/about-us/our-story">been repackaged</a> as New York lofts for “post-punk kids” by Manchester-based firm Urban Splash. </p>
<h2>Building the future</h2>
<p>The new architecture of the Northern Powerhouse should seek to unite the citizens of the north, by drawing on the bleak beauty of the landscape, and finding new ways to work through our shared industrial and civic heritage from Victorian times. The Architecture programme at Northumbria University has always been concerned with northern architecture, and recently, masters students have been using their designs to think through the political and social consequences of the Northern Powerhouse.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116354/original/image-20160324-17824-35r7lz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116354/original/image-20160324-17824-35r7lz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116354/original/image-20160324-17824-35r7lz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116354/original/image-20160324-17824-35r7lz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116354/original/image-20160324-17824-35r7lz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116354/original/image-20160324-17824-35r7lz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116354/original/image-20160324-17824-35r7lz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michael Dunn’s plan: a workshop for the city.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Dunn</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Michael Dunn’s “workshop for the city” combines the idea of an <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2014/03/31/terry-farrell-interview-the-farrell-review/">“urban room”</a> – a space where locals can gather to discuss planning proposals – with an architecture school to assert the importance of making over theory. Constructed on the site of Sir Basil Spence’s 1968 <a href="http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/bulldozers-moving-pilgrim-street-eyesore-1341502">Bank of England northern gold reserve</a>, the workshops are literally carved from the remaining two storey basement and revealed to passers-by. </p>
<p>Drawing inspiration from the Anglo-Saxon period, when the Kingdom of Northumbria formed <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-medieval-kings-to-modern-politics-the-origins-of-englands-north-south-divide-47068">a strong northern powerbase</a>, students have reimagined traditional guilds as modern-day managers of apprenticeships, to combine traditional skills with high-tech manufacturing and reverse the <a href="https://theconversation.com/revealed-how-were-rebranding-poor-people-as-entrepreneurs-56040">trend toward casual employment</a>. </p>
<p>For example, Luke Willett’s “guild towers” imagine a future of mass-customisation, with 3D printed concrete and computer-controlled joinery, alongside the traditional skills of stone masonry and barrel-wrights. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116357/original/image-20160324-17832-b2m2d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116357/original/image-20160324-17832-b2m2d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116357/original/image-20160324-17832-b2m2d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116357/original/image-20160324-17832-b2m2d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116357/original/image-20160324-17832-b2m2d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116357/original/image-20160324-17832-b2m2d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116357/original/image-20160324-17832-b2m2d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A workshop in the guild towers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luke Willett</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Northern Powerhouse is too awkward a phrase – too much of a soundbite – to come to fruition without the will to find a coherent northern identity. Our students’ projects suggest that a uniquely northern renaissance is conceivable – but only if politicians aspire to more than just improving infrastructure and promoting growth. Those who commission buildings need to embrace – rather than begrudge – their civic responsibilities, and for both planners and the public to demand better quality environments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56168/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sebastian Messer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Osborne’s grand scheme needs solid foundations: and that’s where architecture can lend a hand.Sebastian Messer, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/516072015-12-02T14:15:53Z2015-12-02T14:15:53ZHow to close the north-south divide between secondary schools<p>Michael Wilshaw, chief inspector of schools and head of Ofsted, knows how to attract headlines. In his <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480959/Ofsted_annual_report_education_and_skills.pdf">fourth annual report</a> on the state of education and skills in England, he did not hold back:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What we are seeing is nothing short of a divided nation after the age of 11. Children in the North and Midlands are much less likely to attend a good or outstanding secondary school than those in the rest of the country. Of the 173 failing secondary schools in the country, 130 are in the North and Midlands and 43 are in the South.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is considerable speculation about what has caused the division and what we can do about it. Although the secretary of state for education, Nicky Morgan, was careful not to refer to the London Challenge when she was interviewed on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06nrqg1/newsnight-02112015">Newsnight</a> on November 2, several commentators have pointed to its enduring <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-londons-secondary-schools-have-improved-so-much-28531">influence</a> in transforming school performance in London. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141124154759/http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/london-challenge">London Challenge</a> was a secondary school improvement programme aimed to lift attainment that ran from 2003 to 2011 and was expanded in 2008 into the <a href="https://metranet.londonmet.ac.uk/research-units/ipse/research-projects/current-projects/p105.cfm">City Challenge</a> to include primary schools and two new areas, Greater Manchester and the Black Country. </p>
<p>Wilshaw does not directly mention the challenge in his report, but he does link the improvements he saw as a London headteacher in the late 1990s to what he terms “the collective decision by headteachers, local politicians, chief executives and MPs to no longer tolerate underperformance”. He has called for “collective action” to raise standards in secondary schools across the country. </p>
<p>So the solution appears straightforward: apply collectively what worked in London to schools to the North and Midlands in particular. Unfortunately, things are a little more complex. </p>
<h2>Replicating success is never easy</h2>
<p>Although the London Challenge ended in 2011 there is little consensus about what made it apparently so effective. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/11/london-challenge-turned-poor-schools-around">Mike Tomlinson</a>, who was a chief adviser to the London Challenge, said that its success was partly down to improving the quality of leadership, teaching and learning in schools, achieved through high-quality professional development and support. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184093/DFE-RR215.pdf">evaluation</a> put its success down to factors such as tackling school improvement at an area level and drawing on external expertise, including from local authority advisers. <a href="http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/Implementing%20the%20London%20Challenge%20-%20final_0.pdf">Research undertaken</a> into the implementation of the London Challenge emphasised the importance of combining structural changes, such as the introduction of city academies, with emphasis on collaboration and actively sharing good school improvement practice. </p>
<p>But <a href="http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/spcc/wp21.pdf">recently published research</a> argued that improved performance of disadvantaged pupils in London was present in both primary and secondary schools from the mid-1990s. It attributed this to: “gradual improvements in school quality”, rather than to factors directly associated with the London Challenge.</p>
<p>All of this suggests that replicating the London Challenge across the North and the Midlands would be difficult, even if funding on that scale were available now and we were not facing the shortages in teachers and school leaders highlighted elsewhere in Wilshaw’s report. </p>
<p>What is missing from Wilshaw’s bullish refusal to tolerate under-performance is any recognition of the importance of the context in which schools operate. As social geographer <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/08/london-problem">Danny Dorling</a> and others have demonstrated, London dominates the English economy in a way which is not replicated by the capitals of other countries. This means that what works in London, and why what works endures, may not apply elsewhere. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/p8X9B/1/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Research published recently by IPPR North into <a href="http://www.ippr.org/files/publications/pdf/state-of-the-north-2015_Oct2015.pdf?noredirect=1">The State of the North</a> claims: “There is a 12-percentage-point ‘early years gap’ between the performance of the poorest children under the age of five in London and those in the North.” But as Wilshaw pointed out in his report and the graph above shows, there is no north-south divide among primary schools. We need to find out what primary schools in the North and the Midlands are doing so well to overcome their early disadvantage and what changes after the age of 11.</p>
<h2>The north-east</h2>
<p>Wilshaw highlights the north-east as an example of where things are going wrong at secondary level. What gets lost in his rush to identify the problem is that the two highest-performing local authorities in England at primary level – North Tyneside and Newcastle upon Tyne – are in the north-east. We need also to look at why that is the case.</p>
<p>The current policy concern with “<a href="http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-coasting-school-41993">coasting schools</a>” means that the North-South divide in secondary schools is likely to concentrate politicians’ minds in the next few years. </p>
<p>What should be noted is that the government’s de facto solution for coasting schools – <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-33308278">converting more into academies</a> – is addressed rather gingerly in Wilshaw’s report. He states that academisation “can create the conditions for remarkable improvements” but is also clear that such structural reform has its limitations. </p>
<p>In Morgan’s Newsnight interview she claimed that “academies have proved to be hugely successful”. Like the drivers behind London and the London Challenge’s improvement in school performance, that <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-all-academies-are-the-same-dont-assume-they-will-all-boost-results-48698">remains contested</a>. </p>
<p>If we are to address the divide Wilshaw has identified, we need less of this kind of assertion and a rather more nuanced understanding of the issues involved in improving school performance, learning and teaching at scale.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51607/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Jopling does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Can schools in the North and Midlands replicate the success of those in the South of England?Michael Jopling, Professor in Education, Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/419062015-05-15T12:45:06Z2015-05-15T12:45:06ZSorry #takeuswithyouScotland, the north of England is staying put<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82301/original/image-20150519-30494-1rc3h1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Northern uproot?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/artcriminal/5571633837/in/photolist-9um5Cn-5uTcHK-H9iXY-azYgLR-deEtWF-dMBi7m-82gyp3-4Zc1M7-eiFNq-9B8wz8-9B8wEM-84oiVg-9BbqcA-naRMx-8cYW8S-9B8voe-9BbpV7-9Bbq17-9B8w2Z-9B8vNK-9B8wkZ-9ATqpY-9BboDJ-9ATqzd-9B8wpR-9BboV7-9BbpFs-9Bbprw-9B8uPV-6psBu1-HX8oh-6BvmYD-nuZMnM-ekC48i-4Z8LCX-nmBDXG-nbLbVa-uBqic-nokaR6-7zfMUb-mWAXqR-6WqTGt-cdpjN-nuitXM-nbJo7m-6WuTuA-84onw4-9BPWJz-5shzU9-eC4ALa">Art Crimes</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fed up with <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015">the result</a> of the general election? Stuck with a Conservative majority that you didn’t want? Why not move to Scotland? The Scottish National Party swept (almost) all before it on election night on <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/20/snp-manifesto-2015-key-points">a platform</a> which talked of equality and appears to have outflanked Labour on the left. </p>
<p>SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon’s <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/leaders-debate-can-i-vote-for-the-snp-voters-ask-after-nicola-sturgeons-winning-performance-10154135.html">reign as</a> the most searched-for term on Google is long since over, but her party’s popularity with voters in the north of England is still making waves. More than 26,000 people <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/05/14/petition-demands-northern-counties-break-away-from-london-centric-south-and-join-with-scotland_n_7286464.html?utm_hp_ref=tw">have signed</a> a petition calling for the north to secede from the UK and join a newly independent Scotland. </p>
<p>Using the hashtag #TakeUsWithYouScotland, the petition calls for a border from the River Dee in the west to the mouth of the Humber in the east. In an echo of an <a href="http://theconversation.com/could-newcastle-ditch-england-for-an-independent-scotland-31760">earlier call</a> during the Scottish independence referendum to move the Scottish border south to Hadrian’s Wall, this would see all the major cities of the north secede and join Scotland – including Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool. </p>
<h2>The squeezed middle</h2>
<p>There is some logic to this. Newcastle is around 125 miles from Edinburgh, for instance. It is more than double that distance from London. Like Scotland, the cities of the north have long complained of misgovernment and neglect by the political elite in the south east. They <a href="http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/features/reclaiming-the-north-tories-peter-kellner">argue that</a> the Conservatives have little or no legitimacy in Labour-voting northern constituencies. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81827/original/image-20150515-25444-a7g4la.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81827/original/image-20150515-25444-a7g4la.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81827/original/image-20150515-25444-a7g4la.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81827/original/image-20150515-25444-a7g4la.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81827/original/image-20150515-25444-a7g4la.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81827/original/image-20150515-25444-a7g4la.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81827/original/image-20150515-25444-a7g4la.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Election 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015_general_election_results_map_narrow.png#/media/File:2015_general_election_results_map_narrow.png">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Northern cities have felt squeezed between an increasingly confident Scotland and a powerful London, and austerity measures have added impetus to these feelings. Northern councils <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/the-northerner/2014/jul/15/northern-poor-areas-hit-hardest-by-council-cuts">have suffered more</a> from austerity than those in the prosperous south of England. The south of England feels a very different place to Liverpool or Sheffield, not to mention Glasgow. The maps produced after the election tell the story well: blue Conservative south, red Labour urban north and yellow SNP Scotland.</p>
<h2>Nothing doing</h2>
<p>But here’s the reality check. Whatever the petition says, there is neither elite-level or any large-scale popular demand for such a move on either side of the border. Scotland is not yet independent. A second referendum is years away, whatever the somewhat excited speculation in the press may say. Even the additional powers proposed for Scotland by the <a href="https://www.smith-commission.scot">Smith Commission</a> have not yet been legislated for – and have most recently <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-32746049">been discussed</a> between Sturgeon and David Cameron. </p>
<p>Scotland will have enough on its plate setting up the administration for the various new powers it is already getting as a consequence of the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/11/contents/enacted">2012 Scotland Act</a> without having to add a population of many millions, some large conurbations and a further great swathe of rural territory. If a UK prime minister’s standing in the world would be hugely diminished by Scottish secession, imagine how much more diminished they would be if the north of England also voted to leave.</p>
<p>Further devolution to Scotland is often seen as a threat in the north of England, with businesses fearing losing out to Scottish competition and different tax regimes. Yet there are opportunities for the north too. Much has been said in recent months about Chancellor George Osborne’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/the-northerner/2015/may/14/george-osborne-northern-powerhouse-devolution-manchester">Northern Powerhouse</a> and the “Devo-Manc” <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/14/george-osborne-invites-cities-to-follow-manchester-route-to-devolution">proposals</a> to devolve power to city regions with elected mayors. </p>
<p>Less noticed is that the <a href="http://votesnp.com/docs/manifesto.pdf">SNP’s manifesto</a> argued for a “new northern focus” in England. It makes common cause with northern councils over <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/hs2-high-speed-rail">high-speed rail</a> and indicated that it would support investment in cities in the north of England, claiming that a strong Newcastle and Leeds makes the UK even stronger.</p>
<p>This is an opportunity for north English authorities to work with the SNP government in Edinburgh, as well as SNP MPs and their counterparts from northern England to cooperate against Conservative measures in London. In practical terms, this could begin with infrastructure projects such as high-speed rail. It could extend into other areas of mutual interest, such as tourism and cross-border business development. </p>
<h2>Hard road ahead</h2>
<p>Links already exist, of course. Councils either side of the border cooperate on various issues. Some in the north may see working with the Scottish government as complementary to Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse offer. Some in the UK government may even see this as a way of blurring rule by London on the north, making the border less divisive and encouraging less of a focus on the difference between north and south within England.</p>
<p>There are many obstacles to overcome if the north of England is to be strengthened. <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-devo-manc-a-good-model-for-english-devolution-almost-41643">Greater Manchester aside</a>, the Northern Powerhouse deals have yet to take real form or be taken up by the various northern authorities. Initiatives such as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/local-government-network/2013/nov/02/localism-act-devolution-uk-local-authorities">localism</a> – the idea of devolving power to small geographic areas – come and go without ever seeming to leave much of a mark or be much more than a slogan. </p>
<p>Scotland will make political capital out of northern disquiet during tensions between the Scottish and UK governments, of course. The north-south divide is unlikely to be eroded anytime soon by any Northern Powerhouse deals. Austerity will bite further, whatever form devolution takes in Northern England. </p>
<p>Yet the petition highlights a real need for cross-border co-operation to increase and for the north being more sensitively treated by London. Scotland has been inspired with its increased confidence. For pro-devolution campaigners in England, the future is exciting. But if they want powers devolved, they will have to work together and keep the pressure on Whitehall to deliver.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41906/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alistair is a Trustee and Executive Member of the Political Studies Association of the UK. He gave evidence to the Scottish parliament review into the 2012 local government elections and submitted a response to the "Scotland's Electoral Future" consultation.</span></em></p>Tens of thousands have signed a petition for the north of England to join Scotland. But deeper cooperation rather than secession is the answer.Alistair Clark, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/413752015-05-06T17:23:54Z2015-05-06T17:23:54ZDevo Manc: a shrewd political move that keeps Treasury control without the responsibility<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80681/original/image-20150506-10922-1r98h3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">So it works like this...</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">altogetherfool/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Signed by the chancellor, George Osborne, and the leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the latest twist in the Devo Manc agenda was the unique agreement that purported to grant residents “more control over the decisions that affect their lives”. Yet closer inspection suggests a more nuanced picture. </p>
<p>The agreement provides for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-31615218">the devolution of the region’s £6 billion NHS budget</a> to provide health and social care services. Alongside this budgetary devolution is the creation of a new board, bringing together NHS England, 12 clinical commissioning groups (formerly the primary care trusts), 15 NHS providers and the ten constituent local authorities of GMCA. Its main function is to distribute funding and take decisions over personnel, estates, information sharing, regulation and the commissioning of clinical services. </p>
<p>The media reaction has been one of <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/health/devolution-now-greater-manchester-gets-8712970">surprise</a>, given the scale and scope of the devolved budget and the responsibilities. Yet should we really see this as a surprising event? It should really be viewed as part of a broader trend in public sector governance – the decision is consistent with the dominance of depoliticised governing strategies and more opaque accountability. </p>
<h2>Depoliticisation</h2>
<p>What do we mean by depoliticisation here? In essence, depoliticisation can be seen as a governing strategy that seeks to externalise accountability for particular spheres of governance. The aim is to promote an image of competence in government in the hope of bolstering electability. And responsibility for public service delivery is decentralised with the aim of shifting accountability to the local level – either local politicians or bureaucrats. Blame for policy failure – if such strategies are successful – is displaced from central government.</p>
<p>Such approaches to governing are not unique, but appear consistently under both Conservative and Labour neo-liberal governments. Previous examples include New Public Management (centralising policy-making yet decentralising delivery), value for money regulatory regimes and, more recently, the localism agenda. </p>
<p>However, while such strategies are often portrayed as pushing “power to the people”, in reality central government retains significant arms-length control. This can be problematic in terms of accountability, as the responsibility for service delivery is decentralised without true autonomy being realised. The true scope of central control is shrouded from view. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80682/original/image-20150506-10922-10worzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80682/original/image-20150506-10922-10worzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80682/original/image-20150506-10922-10worzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80682/original/image-20150506-10922-10worzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80682/original/image-20150506-10922-10worzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80682/original/image-20150506-10922-10worzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80682/original/image-20150506-10922-10worzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arms-length.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Building by Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Retained control</h2>
<p>The devolution of health budgets to Manchester is a case in point. In line with the government’s fiscal consolidation agenda, the GMCA will be subject to spending reviews as and when the Treasury deems necessary. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/369858/Greater_Manchester_Agreement_i.pdf">The agreement</a> between the Treasury and GMCA makes this point clear: “In the context of the wider fiscal-consolidation agenda, the City Region will be required to take a fair share of any reductions that are made to any of the devolved funding streams”. But this is not all.</p>
<p>Central government retains significant control beyond simply the purse strings. In a <a href="http://www.agma.gov.uk/cms_media/files/mou.pdf">memorandum of understanding</a> between the GMCA and NHS England it is clear that government has the ultimate say over the strategic direction of the NHS in Manchester. Any significant additions to the estate need to be agreed nationally and GMCA possesses little wiggle room to deviate from centrally-prescribed governance arrangements. This all seems out of kilter with Osborne’s rhetoric of local autonomy.</p>
<p>This undeniably would be seen as a positive move for Treasury officials, who seek to retain overall control over NHS budgets while seeking to absolve – at least in part – the Department of Health from service delivery. It is often suggested that governments decentralise at times of fiscal restraint, spreading the blame for falling standards in public services. It remains to be seen whether this strategy for the management of NHS resources is sufficiently successful to become the norm. </p>
<h2>Who gets the blame?</h2>
<p>The most interesting question to arise from this development concerns accountability and specifically, where the public see that it lies under these new arrangements? Who will be deemed at fault if failures arise? With this in mind, it is perhaps wise – at present at least – to treat this deal with caution. The NHS holds a unique position in the minds of the British electorate and remains a political hot potato. For this reason, for all the government’s rhetoric the likelihood of true local autonomy remains remote. </p>
<p>The success of these governing strategies must ultimately be judged by where voters direct their discontentment (if required, of course). It is more likely that voters will punish central government than the GMCA if things go wrong. Ultimately, in the longer term the application of such strategies to the NHS may well fail. After all, it is unlikely voters will separate this emotive policy area from the purview of central government. GMCA is the guinea pig, and we will learn much about the potential for a future roll out in coming years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41375/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The devolution of NHS budget to Manchester is part of a broader trend that allows central government enough control but without much of the responsibility for delivery or failure.Sam Warner, Doctoral Researcher in Political Science, University of BirminghamMax Lempriere, Ph.D. Researcher in Political Science, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/391002015-03-25T14:40:50Z2015-03-25T14:40:50ZFact Check: Is the north of England growing faster than the south?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75727/original/image-20150323-17702-16yrgs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Has the north of England's economy lit up?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/47309173@N06/8040061240/sizes/l">96tommy/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Over the last year, the north grew faster than the south. </p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, in his Budget speech.</strong></p>
<p>According to the chancellor’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellor-george-osbornes-budget-2015-speech">Budget speech</a>, Britain is the “comeback country” enjoying the spring of “a truly national recovery”. The theme is familiar, as several of his speeches on the potential of plans for a “northern powerhouse” have highlighted high rates of economic growth and job creation in the north of England. Osborne’s claim that the north grew faster last year is surprising, as it has been widely noted that the economic recovery since 2009 has been led by London and the south-east and that these regions have proved to be more resilient. So does the claim stand up to scrutiny? </p>
<p>To test this we really need regional data on the value of output and employment for 2014. According to the Treasury, the key evidence behind the chancellor’s claim is <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/regional-accounts/regional-gross-value-added--income-approach-/december-2014/stb-regional-gva-dec-2014.html">data from the Office of National Statistics</a> on economic output for the third quarter 2013, which is the latest available. Gross Value Added (GVA) measures the increase in the value of the economy due to the production of goods and services and here it is based on the income generated by resident individuals and firms, including inflation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75722/original/image-20150323-17702-4t6fcl.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75722/original/image-20150323-17702-4t6fcl.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75722/original/image-20150323-17702-4t6fcl.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75722/original/image-20150323-17702-4t6fcl.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75722/original/image-20150323-17702-4t6fcl.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75722/original/image-20150323-17702-4t6fcl.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75722/original/image-20150323-17702-4t6fcl.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Growth by region between Q3 2012 and Q3 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/regional-accounts/regional-gross-value-added--income-approach-/december-2014/stb-regional-gva-dec-2014.html">ONS Regional Gross Value Added (income approach) December 2014</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This provisional data does show higher rates of growth of GVA per head in northern regions, although London’s growth is high and these small differences would take a very long time to close the very large regional differences in GVA per head. So there is some justification for the claim based on this measure, although it is for 2013 and not last year, or 2014 as he says in his speech. </p>
<p>We can gain a better picture by putting this snapshot in a longer-term context. The chart below shows the change in GVA per head within each region since the pre-recession peak in 2007. We can see that the upswing in northern regions in 2013 is actually part of their recovery from a deeper downswing than in London and the south-east. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75723/original/image-20150323-17672-14g9vw3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75723/original/image-20150323-17672-14g9vw3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75723/original/image-20150323-17672-14g9vw3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75723/original/image-20150323-17672-14g9vw3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75723/original/image-20150323-17672-14g9vw3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75723/original/image-20150323-17672-14g9vw3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75723/original/image-20150323-17672-14g9vw3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75723/original/image-20150323-17672-14g9vw3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">London remains ahead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/regional-accounts/regional-gross-value-added--income-approach-/december-2014/stb-regional-gva-dec-2014.html">ONS Regional Gross Value Added (income approach) December 2014</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Consequently, the differences between regional GVA per head between 2007 and the third quarter of 2013 have widened slightly when compared to the national average. The lead of London and the south-east has increased slightly and the results for Wales are concerning. London has moved from 167.3% of the national average to 171.9% and the south-east from 108% to 110.5%. At the other end, the north-east has fallen from 86.1% to 85.2%, the north-west from 87.7% to 85.2% and Wales from 73.8% to 72.2%. </p>
<p>Do recent employment and jobs statistics provide more convincing support for the chancellor’s claim? The emphasis on growth in the north has apparently been based on employment from the Labour Force Survey. The most recent data shows the growth in employment over the year from November 2013 to January 2014 to November 2014 to January 2015.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75725/original/image-20150323-17702-3aglny.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75725/original/image-20150323-17702-3aglny.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/75725/original/image-20150323-17702-3aglny.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75725/original/image-20150323-17702-3aglny.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75725/original/image-20150323-17702-3aglny.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75725/original/image-20150323-17702-3aglny.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75725/original/image-20150323-17702-3aglny.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/75725/original/image-20150323-17702-3aglny.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employment Growth by Region, 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/march-2015/statistical-bulletin.html">ONS Headline LFS Indicators for all Regions, March 2015</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With the exception of the north-west, the divergence between London and the rest of the country stands out. While some northern regions are finally enjoying a rapid period of recovery this is not true of other northern regions which are still struggling to exceed their pre-crash level. Given that the trends in total jobs vary from year to year, and that recovery is not simultaneous, broad claims based on one year are not persuasive. </p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>We are not yet able to judge whether the regions in the north of England grew faster in terms of the value of their output last year (2014) as we haven’t got the data. Results for earlier years suggest this may have been the case. Employment data for 2014 show a jobs recovery in some northern regions, but substantial variations within both the north and south and continuing strong growth in London. What is clear is that the recession has intensified a pattern of uneven regional growth. </p>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>There are two senses in which the chancellor’s comment could be said to be misleading – this article discuss both of them. The first, which seems relatively less important, concerns the timing of the economic data on which the statement is based. As this article makes clear, although the latest available data is not for “last year”, it does show faster annual per-capita growth in northern regions. </p>
<p>The second sense in which these figures could be misleading is as an indicator of the relative long-term performance of different parts of the UK. As the article discusses, broad claims about long-term growth based on one year of data are not persuasive. In particular, because the northern regions saw a deeper and longer recession than London it is quite possible that some of those regions are now seeing faster growth as they finally recover. <a href="http://www.centreforcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Cities_Outlook_2015.pdf">Longer-term data</a> would suggest that large gaps in relative economic performance between north and south remain largely unchanged, or may even have been exacerbated by the recession.</p>
<div class="callout">The Conversation is fact checking political statements in the lead-up to the May UK general election. Statements are checked by an academic with expertise in the area. A second academic expert reviews an anonymous copy of the article.<br><br><a href="https://theconversation.com/factchecks/new">Click here to request a check</a>. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible. You can also email factcheck@theconversation.com </div><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39100/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Sunley has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>From 2007-2013, Henry Overman directed the Spatial Economics Research Centre which was core funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Department for Business Innovation and Science, Welsh Government and Department of Communities and Local Government. From 2013, he has directed the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth which is core funded by the same departments. Both these centres also receive additional government and research council funding.</span></em></p>In his budget speech, George Osborne claimed that the north grew faster than the south last year. Is he right?Peter Sunley, Professor of Economic Geography, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/385032015-03-09T13:15:03Z2015-03-09T13:15:03ZBattle for the North West of England looks like it will end in an electoral stalemate<p>An analysis of the constituencies in North West England suggests neither the Conservatives or Labour can gain sufficient ground to win a wider parliamentary majority.</p>
<p>By gathering information on key seats, we have found that Labour can only hope to steal four in the region and that none of the other parties can expect to make any significant gains either.</p>
<p>North West England will be a crucial battleground. It is home to 72 constituencies, of which <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_6829/marginality_distribution/english/index.html?v=7.1">28 are marginal</a> – the joint highest (with the South West) of any English region. If either a majority Labour or Conservative government is to emerge after May 7, they’d need to make a healthy number of net gains here. </p>
<p>Labour stands little chance of securing a workable majority without winning at least 14 additional North West seats. For the Conservatives, a majority will remain out of reach if they fail to win target seats in places like Bolton West and Wirral South.</p>
<p>But it looks as though neither party will succeed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74137/original/image-20150308-13567-1djdyhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74137/original/image-20150308-13567-1djdyhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74137/original/image-20150308-13567-1djdyhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74137/original/image-20150308-13567-1djdyhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74137/original/image-20150308-13567-1djdyhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74137/original/image-20150308-13567-1djdyhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74137/original/image-20150308-13567-1djdyhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74137/original/image-20150308-13567-1djdyhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">North West in a nutshell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Only four seats are on track to change hands – and all represent Labour gains. The party will take two seats from the Conservatives (in Warrington South and Lancaster and Fleetwood) and two from the Liberal Democrats (in Manchester Withington and Burnley).</p>
<p>Admittedly, a few more seats than this could change hands (my colleague Jon Tonge is more persuaded than I am that Labour will also win Morecambe and Lunesdale and Weaver Vale, for example). But without some dramatic developments between now and May, the number of North West seats making the switch looks certain to be in single figures.</p>
<p>If the pattern in the region is broadly as we suggest, it seems certain that neither of the two main parties will be able to command a parliamentary majority. </p>
<h2>A defensive election</h2>
<p>The two main parties look to be in a strong position to defend what they won in 2010 but seem less well placed to launch attacks on their target seats – hence the likelihood of a stalemate.</p>
<p>In a number of Labour targets, constituency polls and local election results suggest the party simply does not have enough of a lead (and sometimes none at all) over the Conservative incumbent. What’s more, the financial disadvantage of the Labour challengers in numerous North West marginals is highly apparent. In Wirral West, a Labour target, we found that the local Conservative Association has secured £77,000 in declarable donations since the last general election. The Constituency Labour Party in the locality has registered a total of £3,000 over the same period.</p>
<p>There is ample evidence to suggest that Liberal Democrat donors have been as strategic as their Tory counterparts in directing large donations to the constituencies they won in 2010. In all six of the seats currently held by the Liberal Democrats, donations to the local party are far in excess of those which have reached their primary rival.</p>
<p>In the four North West constituencies where Liberal Democrat parties have managed to remain the largest party by vote share in local elections, there is every chance that the party will be able to deploy these resources to retain the seats. </p>
<p>As for UKIP, we conclude that parliamentary representation in the North West will elude them in 2015. However, the party will secure far higher vote shares across the region than in 2010 and can expect to finish second in a number of safe Labour seats. A runner-up spot in Bootle, where UKIP deputy leader Paul Nuttall is standing, is a virtual certainty.</p>
<h2>Far from the finishing line</h2>
<p>Our predictions are based on sets of statistical evidence for each constituency, which were used to make informed judgements about the probable outcome in each.</p>
<p>This meant looking at <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/11/explore-all-lord-ashcrofts-89-marginal-polls">polling data</a> on voting intentions in key marginal seats, votes in the most recent local elections and the resources each party is likely to have to spend on campaigning in the area. We also modelled the likely impact of Liberal Democrat deserters switching disproportionally to Labour rather than the Conservatives (a pattern consistently evidenced by national opinion polls).</p>
<p>Of course, making predictions based on uneven evidence weeks before polling day carries obvious risks. One of the two main parties may yet pull ahead in the polls. And it could be that Labour’s vow to win the ground war with <a href="http://labourlist.org/2015/01/four-million-conversations-in-four-months-miliband-says-labour-will-speak-to-millions-before-election-day/">four million conversations</a> will compensate for its relative campaign poverty. </p>
<p>It is also evident that electoral stalemate in the North West will not be replicated elsewhere, most notably Scotland and, almost certainly, South West England.</p>
<p>Yet, if our analysis is even close to being right, the voters of the North West will play a leading role in denying Labour a majority in 2015 – just as they did with the Conservatives in 2010.</p>
<p><em>The research described in this article was carried out in collaboration with <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-tonge-95370">Jon Tonge</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Wilks-Heeg has previously received funding from the Electoral Commission, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>The contest for 28 marginal seats could give a strong indication of the overall result in May.Stuart Wilks-Heeg, Head of Politics, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/269372014-05-21T13:00:02Z2014-05-21T13:00:02ZScotland is not reviving English regional assemblies debate, but something’s stirring in the North<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49151/original/dhzj7c6h-1400675402.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fog on the Tyne, but no parliament.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevencorrey/4510350167/in/photolist-7SyHY4-5gwhti-9AaGYy-3cMvxZ-9BY2t1-91niXb-e5k5mq-e5eq84-e5eqAz-am5L8k-393fCX-4kdxCD-4kdxh4-4khy5f-3cMuLV-397MaY-91nw3o-gbPpP-bQJ8RD-A22ZK-qfTzQ-4TGjGo-vG7F-vG7y-vG7A-vG7T-7gzzcD-5rJge3-6rhnYm-6fC3KU-eYLMuD-fimcTX-fsDHWL-eYLTqn-eYYbAN-eYYc5C-eYLPvM-iaLpK1-eYLRGB-eYLWF4-5oZffr-2iRmWw-jj2oPX-dKLPyJ-eYYfQL-fjgQzj-iaLo3A-eYLPrT-y6iHV-hNGWYX">Steven Correy</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You can perhaps forgive the north of England for casting an envious glance across the border to Scotland. A yes vote in September could significantly enhance Scotland’s ability to determine its own economic future. </p>
<p>It comes at a time when abolishing the <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/regional/regional-dev-agencies/index.html">regional development agencies</a> in England has undermined the capacity for regional voice and reduced the resources and strategic cohesion needed to plan for economic growth. Many in the North of England fear that the area could be uncomfortably caught between a resurgent Scotland and an all-powerful London and the South East. </p>
<p>For politicians and much of the local media in North East England where I am based, Scotland is viewed as already having powerful political and economic development organisations; the capacity to speak with a single voice; and far superior resources. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19873780">One study in 2012</a> suggested that Scotland spent 76% more per head of population on economic development than the North East. It found that high-profile investors such as Amazon were being lured to Scotland by the promise of extensive support from <a href="http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/">Scottish Enterprise</a>.</p>
<p>Such concerns have been intensified by the <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/11/9348">Scottish government’s commitments</a> to reduce both corporation tax and air passenger duty. Business and political leaders across the North East have been using the Scottish independence debate to reinforce their case to Westminster for greater economic and fiscal devolution within England.</p>
<h2>What sort of devolution?</h2>
<p>Some Labour MPs in the North East have been pressing for the regional development agencies to be reinstated. There have also been calls, mainly in the letters pages of local newspapers, for another try at creating elected regional assemblies. One former Labour MP <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/an-independent-northeast-the-possibility-that-scotland-will-govern-itself-has-reinvigorated-those-in-the-north-of-england-who-want-more-local-powers-9292704.html">has even proposed</a> that we form a new North East Party. </p>
<p>It all gives me a strong sense of déjà vu to the mood of the early 2000s, until the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3984387.stm">public rejected such an assembly</a> for the North East in 2004. But given the scale of that rejection and the absence of any political commitment to bring back the regional development agencies, it is unlikely that more powers will be transferred. Nor has the campaign for an English parliament gained any traction in a region uneasy and uncomfortable with notions of Englishness. </p>
<p>What looks more likely is Westminster strengthening the sub-regional level – particularly given that the Labour party has now accepted the coalition government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/supporting-economic-growth-through-local-enterprise-partnerships-and-enterprise-zones/supporting-pages/local-enterprise-partnerships">local enterprise partnerships model</a>. Instead of opposing these collaborations between councils and local businesses, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/07/ed-miliband-labour-city-regions-uk-growth">Labour is now arguing</a> that their powers and resources should be increased. </p>
<p>The sub-regional level is also important in the context of creating <a href="http://www.centreforcities.org/research/2013/01/11/combinedauthoritiesbriefing/">combined authorities</a>, which allows councils to share decision-making over areas such as skills, transport and economic investment. For example the seven councils in the north of the North East have <a href="http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Council%20and%20Democracy/LA7/LA7.aspx">recently been awarded</a> such status.</p>
<h2>Borderlands</h2>
<p>One move that has emerged more directly from the debate on Scottish independence is the <a href="http://www.scottishpolicynow.co.uk/article/rethinking-economic-development-in-the-borderlands">Borderlands initiative</a>. It was first outlined in a <a href="http://www.northeastcouncils.gov.uk/curo/downloaddoc.asp?id=589">report commissioned</a> by the Association of North East Councils in 2013. The report said that while no one underestimated the robust competition from a resurgent Scotland, the prospect of greater Scottish autonomy also provided opportunities to collaborate in areas of mutual benefit. </p>
<p>The initiative recommends that the five local authorities on either side of the border – Northumberland, Cumbria, Carlisle, Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders – should create a borderlands partnership that collaborates over common economic challenges and opportunities such as connectivity, tourism and rural development. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.yesscotland.net/news/borderlands-renewed-relationship-between-scotland-and-northern-england">Alex Salmond</a> and his local government minister, <a href="http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Cross-border-co-operation-33a.aspx">Derek Mackay</a>, promptly backed the initiative. It was also positively received by the five relevant councils, who <a href="http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/press/article/882/first_borderlands_initiative_summit_held">have since been discussing</a> how best to develop it. One of the attractions is that it can be taken forward irrespective of the outcome of the vote on September 18. </p>
<p>In short, the recognition that the economic and social interests of the North are being badly served by political centralisation within England and the ever-growing north-south divide has prompted discussions about how the North should respond – even while there is little sign of the question of regional assemblies reviving. Scotland may pose a threat in some ways, but it also presents an opportunity for collaborating with the North of England where there are mutual interests. In the <a href="http://www.scottishpolicynow.co.uk/article/rethinking-economic-development-in-the-borderlands">words of Salmond</a>, we can be northern lights in the face of the dominance of the dark star of London. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Shaw was one of the authors of the 2013 report, Borderlands: can the North east and Cumbria benefit from greater Scottish autonomy. The report was commissioned by the Association of North East Councils</span></em></p>You can perhaps forgive the north of England for casting an envious glance across the border to Scotland. A yes vote in September could significantly enhance Scotland’s ability to determine its own economic…Keith Shaw, Professor of Politics, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.