Territorial Politics in a Changing UK State: The Challenge of English Devolution

• In Event: Instability and Inequality in British Democracy

Abstract

It is widely reported that the UK is characterised by spatial inequality between and within regions, alongside an over-centralised asymmetric model of governance. In England especially, these features are stark, and throughout the last decade politicians have responded by forging a distinctive programme of English devolution. In this paper, we analyse the economic, political, social, and cultural drivers of the English devolution agenda to understand its likely impact on the future trajectory of British politics. We identify the predominance of a narrow economic vision of English devolution that systematically marginalises other policy agendas. The result is a failure to address the trade-offs inherent in the devolution process and an inadequate engagement with the growing demand for democratic revitalisation. In the long-term, we argue that the empowerment of major cities in England and the relative neglect of non-urban areas will have the unintended effect of exacerbating power asymmetries within the UK political system in centre-periphery and centre-local relations. There is a growing risk of resurgent ‘territorially based populism’ stemming from an uneven political geography that has the potential to exacerbate political instability and significantly reshape UK politics in the wake of Brexit. English devolution is a prescient example of how policy ‘solutions’ can in turn create new problems that pose major challenges for the UK government.

Authors

• Jack Newman, University of Bristol

• Patrick Diamond, Queen Mary University London