nyx
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Post by nyx on Sept 26, 2023 16:55:14 GMT
Perhaps due to their lack of much meaningful purpose, I don't believe any changes to the borders of the English regions have been considered since they were first created in 1994. But a few changes to the regional boundaries could well be quite useful.
Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire could easily be combined to form the tenth region of England (South Central England?). After all, Northampton is rather separate to the rest of the East Midlands and has more in common with Milton Keynes (in the South East currently) and Bedford (in East of England currently). Those five counties were all suggested as being in a (very large) South East region together in the abandoned Redcliffe-Maud report.
While it wouldn't necessarily make the most sense in terms of regional links, in terms of local identity it would probably make sense to return North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire to the rest of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands, rather than shoving it with Yorkshire.
Monmouthshire- given the strong opposition to joining Welsh devolution there in the 1997 referendum and its historic ambiguous status, I wonder if the people there would want it moving from Wales to South West England.
This is all presumably fantasy given that I don't think there's any political will for changing the boundaries of the regions, but still interesting to think about.
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Post by greenhert on Sept 26, 2023 17:57:37 GMT
A "South Central (East Wessex?)" region would more likely comprise Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, and Wiltshire, actually.
The region you describe above would more likely be called "Thames-Chiltern" and has been suggested elsewhere on this forum.
I definitely agree that North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire should have been moved back to the East Midlands; practically no-one wanted Humberside anyway.
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Post by doktorb🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ on Sept 26, 2023 18:13:35 GMT
Derbyshire could be given to Yorkshire: it really isn't "East Midlands".
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Post by Defenestrated Fipplebox on Sept 26, 2023 18:54:39 GMT
Derbyshire could be given to Yorkshire: it really isn't "East Midlands".
Pitchforks out.
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Sibboleth
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Post by Sibboleth on Sept 26, 2023 19:32:57 GMT
Derbyshire could be given to Yorkshire: it really isn't "East Midlands". Eh? It's core East Midlands: much of it (if less than Notts o/c, but that's not hard) open fields later enclosed by Parliament, it includes one of the Five Boroughs (Derby) and locals use a form of 'Duck' to address each other. |
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YL
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Post by YL on Sept 27, 2023 8:16:29 GMT
Derbyshire could be given to Yorkshire: it really isn't "East Midlands". Eh? It's core East Midlands: much of it (if less than Notts o/c, but that's not hard) open fields later enclosed by Parliament, it includes one of the Five Boroughs (Derby) and locals use a form of 'Duck' to address each other. It depends on which bit of Derbyshire you are thinking of. We're talking about a county which stretches from not that far north of Tamworth to the Pennine outskirts of Manchester. |
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Sept 27, 2023 9:25:31 GMT
I'd suggest there's a pretty good case for splitting the South West region - have one region based on Bristol and one on the far South West. They'd be rather small regions population-wise, but now that they aren't electoral units that doesn't make much difference and it'd make it less geographically unwieldy.
I agree that a new Central England region is needed, but it might also make sense to split the remainder of the South East region.
And obviously Greater London should be extended to the M25 or thereabouts.
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nyx
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Post by nyx on Sept 27, 2023 9:50:17 GMT
And obviously Greater London should be extended to the M25 or thereabouts. That would be incredibly unpopular especially with the recent controversy. If anything the reverse would be more popular– Havering being returned to Essex for example. In southwest London there would probably be an argument for combining the rich areas on both sides of the current Greater London boundary– Richmond, Kingston, Merton, and Sutton from Greater London along with Spelthorne, Runnymede, Epsom and Ewell, Elmbridge from Surrey, into a new "North Surrey" authority area separate to Greater London. |
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The Bishop
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Post by The Bishop on Sept 27, 2023 10:11:07 GMT
Monmouthshire- given the strong opposition to joining Welsh devolution there in the 1997 referendum and its historic ambiguous status, I wonder if the people there would want it moving from Wales to South West England. I mean, the answer to this is pretty emphatically "Non". There's a reason why its "historic ambiguous" status was ended in the first place - because that was what the majority of people there clearly wanted. And these days returning even the attenuated present day Monmouthshire to England is very much the preserve of a few right wing cranks. |
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Sept 27, 2023 10:52:53 GMT
And obviously Greater London should be extended to the M25 or thereabouts. That would be incredibly unpopular especially with the recent controversy. If anything the reverse would be more popular– Havering being returned to Essex for example. In southwest London there would probably be an argument for combining the rich areas on both sides of the current Greater London boundary– Richmond, Kingston, Merton, and Sutton from Greater London along with Spelthorne, Runnymede, Epsom and Ewell, Elmbridge from Surrey, into a new "North Surrey" authority area separate to Greater London. It would be unpopular because they don't want to admit they live in Greater London, but they observably are part of a single conurbation. |
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Post by carlton43 on Sept 27, 2023 10:53:47 GMT
Monmouthshire- given the strong opposition to joining Welsh devolution there in the 1997 referendum and its historic ambiguous status, I wonder if the people there would want it moving from Wales to South West England. I mean, the answer to this is pretty emphatically "Non". There's a reason why its "historic ambiguous" status was ended in the first place - because that was what the majority of people there clearly wanted. And these days returning even the attenuated present day Monmouthshire to England is very much the preserve of a few right wing cranks. The substantial geographical majority of the county is a far better fit to England and might even vote clearly to be in England. If a few communities on the far west that are demographically quite different to the county were to be excised into Glamorganshire it is doable and makes good sense. |
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Sept 27, 2023 10:57:14 GMT
I mean, the answer to this is pretty emphatically "Non". There's a reason why its "historic ambiguous" status was ended in the first place - because that was what the majority of people there clearly wanted. And these days returning even the attenuated present day Monmouthshire to England is very much the preserve of a few right wing cranks. The substantial geographical majority of the county is a far better fit to England and might even vote clearly to be in England. If a few communities on the far west that are demographically quite different to the county were to be excised into Glamorganshire it is doable and makes good sense. This argument has been tested by a number of right-wing populist parties in recent decades. They've all crashed and burned. |
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Post by carlton43 on Sept 27, 2023 11:01:59 GMT
The substantial geographical majority of the county is a far better fit to England and might even vote clearly to be in England. If a few communities on the far west that are demographically quite different to the county were to be excised into Glamorganshire it is doable and makes good sense. This argument has been tested by a number of right-wing populist parties in recent decades. They've all crashed and burned. 'Tested' how and by whom and under what auspices? |
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Post by doktorb🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ on Sept 27, 2023 11:04:23 GMT
The substantial geographical majority of the county is a far better fit to England and might even vote clearly to be in England. If a few communities on the far west that are demographically quite different to the county were to be excised into Glamorganshire it is doable and makes good sense. This argument has been tested by a number of right-wing populist parties in recent decades. They've all crashed and burned. Yes, I remember when the English Democrats stood in Senedd elections. If that was a guide to moving the boundaries back, it was a definite "no" |
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Sept 27, 2023 11:12:08 GMT
So I gather that moving Monmouthshire into England is a definite no no because the people who live there don't want that, which is fine. But people in parts of Hertfordshire or Surrey who happen to live on one side of a motorway should be moved into Greater London even though they dont want that, because fuck them..
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YL
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Post by YL on Sept 27, 2023 11:37:34 GMT
Shall we go to a pub in Monmouthshire during the England v Wales match in next year's Six Nations and see who the locals are supporting?
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Sept 27, 2023 12:31:20 GMT
So I gather that moving Monmouthshire into England is a definite no no because the people who live there don't want that, which is fine. But people in parts of Hertfordshire or Surrey who happen to live on one side of a motorway should be moved into Greater London even though they dont want that, because fuck them.. Identifying strongly with your nation is relatively common. Identifying strongly with your district council would be weirdo behaviour even on this forum. |
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Post by gwynthegriff on Sept 27, 2023 12:37:17 GMT
So I gather that moving Monmouthshire into England is a definite no no because the people who live there don't want that, which is fine. But people in parts of Hertfordshire or Surrey who happen to live on one side of a motorway should be moved into Greater London even though they dont want that, because fuck them.. Identifying strongly with your nation is relatively common. Identifying strongly with your district council would be weirdo behaviour even on this forum. It's not that they identify with the area, it's snobbery. Which is a powerful sentiment. |
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Post by gwynthegriff on Sept 27, 2023 12:38:58 GMT
Derbyshire could be given to Yorkshire: it really isn't "East Midlands". Derby is definitely East Midlands. Buxton isn't. Such are the ways of boundaries. |
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Sibboleth
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Post by Sibboleth on Sept 27, 2023 12:39:50 GMT
Eh? It's core East Midlands: much of it (if less than Notts o/c, but that's not hard) open fields later enclosed by Parliament, it includes one of the Five Boroughs (Derby) and locals use a form of 'Duck' to address each other. It depends on which bit of Derbyshire you are thinking of. We're talking about a county which stretches from not that far north of Tamworth to the Pennine outskirts of Manchester. Yeah, the towns on the western slopes of the Peak District looking towards Manchester aren't really East Midlands and there's a bit of ambiguity about the Sheffield commuter settlements, but otherwise... (Not that Derbyshire is unusual there. Uttoxeter isn't exactly a West Midlands town, even if it is in Staffordshire). |
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