Feature
PUTTING TOWNS IN THE CENTRE You might not realise it, but whether you live in a city, a town or a village can have a huge bearing on your political outlook. It’s a growing divide that became stark following the 2016 EU Referendum and the 2017 General Election. It’s a divide that a think tank co-founded by a Southampton professor is thrusting under the spotlight.
British politics began to undergo major change in the mid-2010s. Labour started to struggle in its former strongholds but performed better in big cities, while the Conservatives made gains in smaller towns and rural areas. Understanding these changes and the strong influence of place on politics has been a focus for Will Jennings, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, and Gerry Stoker, Professor of Governance, for the past seven years. Will said: “Gerry and I were interested in what was happening in both declining areas and major cities. We worked to understand these 30
political divides and the feeling that different parts of the country were heading in different directions. Then the EU Referendum showed a very clear, big divide between major towns and cities. British political geography had changed and our research linked this to socioeconomic change – cities are getting younger and towns are getting older, with a greater share of older white working class people.” Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, picked up the narrative of ‘Two Englands’, highlighting the gap between towns and cities. She, along with Will and data analyst and political consultant Ian Warren, formed the Centre for Towns think tank in 2017.
Launching the Centre for Towns The think tank was established to focus on the impact of political divides on British towns, to identify social issues and to ask questions about why politics tends to focus on major cities as markers of growth. “There is the implicit assumption that the Government’s economic model has been focused on cities,” said Will. Since 2017, the Centre for Towns team has produced reports identifying issues for towns including COVID-19, broadband connectivity, the public’s attitudes towards the environment, and access to healthcare services.
