Increasing Localism in Elected Politicians?
| Author | Rob Gandy |
| Published date | 01 September 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905818796574 |
| Date | 01 September 2018 |
22 POLITICAL INSIGHT • SEPTEMBER 2018
‘Are you local?’ Edward and Tubbs
Tattsyrup’s catchphrase question
in the BBC comedy The League
of Gentlemen must strike a chord
with all politicians. Voters identify localness –
being from the local area – as an important
attribute. Indeed, party members often
believe that party headquarters has too much
inuence in candidate selection, particularly
when outsiders are parachuted into safe seats
under the noses of senior local councillors.
So how important is being local for political
success? I investigated the relationship
between elected politicians’ birthplace and
their constituency in the European Union
and UK parliamentary elections of 2009 and
2010. Analyses were regional because MEP
constituencies are regional, and represent
a valid and practical high-level proxy for
‘localism’. It was found that the UK regions,
outside London, with the highest number of
MPs and MEPs born per head of population
were also those with the least politician
mobility; the greatest mobility was in south-
Increasing Localism
in Elected Politicians?
Voters often cite ‘localness’ as a major factor in their political choices.
But how local are British politicians? Rob Gandy compares politicians’
constituencies and their place of birth, and finds evidence that
localism is increasing with rising nationalism and regionalism likely to
accelerate this dynamic in UK politics.
east England, particularly London. Patterns
for MPs and MEPs were fairly similar, except
for age, and females were more likely to cross
more than one regional boundary than males,
particularly for Conservative MPs. Whilst there
was considerable politician mobility, the
vast majority of MPs and MEPs represented
constituencies within their region of birth, or
one adjacent.
Has the prevalence in political localism
changed since then? Let’s look at the 2015
General Election to compare. That vote saw
major changes with a majority Conservative
Government, the Scottish National Party
winning 56 of the 59 Scottish seats, and the
collapse of the Liberal Democrats to just
eight MPs. The number of seats that changed
hands from 2010 for the parties in England,
Scotland and Wales (excluding the Speaker)
PI September 2018.indd 22 27/07/2018 15:12
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