Description
Book SynopsisEngland is ruled directly from Westminster by institutions and parties that are both English and British. The non-recognition of England reflects a longstanding assumption of ''unionist statecraft'' that to draw a distinction between what is English and what is British risks destabilising the union state. The book examines evidence that this conflation of England and Britain is growing harder to sustain, in light of increasing political divergence between the nations of the UK and the awakening of English national identity. These trends were reflected in the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, driven predominantly by English voters (outside London). Brexit was motivated in part by a desire to restore the primacy of the Westminster Parliament, but there are countervailing pressures for England to gain its own representative institutions, and for devolution to England''s cities and regions.The book presents competing interpretations of the state of English nationhood, examining the vi
Trade ReviewThis lucid, literate and compelling book is a joy to read... a book to which future historians of British politics will turn for decades... a distinguished work of scholarship, written with energy of thought and clarity of style * Derek Hawes, Journal of Contemporary European Studies *
Table of ContentsAlun Evans: Foreword Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors Part I: England and the Union State 1: Michael Kenny, Iain McLean & Akash Paun: Introduction: English Identity and Institutions in a Changing United Kingdom 2: Arthur Aughey: England and Britain in Historical Perspective 3: Akash Paun: Sovereignty, Devolution, and the English Constitution 4: Jim Gallagher: The Ghost in the Machine? The Government of England 5: Meg Russell & Jack Sheldon: An English Parliament: An Idea Whose Time has Come? Part II: Speaking for England? The Political Parties 6: Daniel Gover & Michael Kenny: Interpreting EVEL: Latest Station in the Conservative Party's English Journey? 7: John Denham: Labour and the Governance of England 8: Robert Ford & Maria Sobolewska: UKIP, Brexit, and the Disruptive Potential of English National Identity Part III: An England of Cities and Regions 9: Mick Moran, John Tomaney, & Karel Williams: Territory and Power in England: The Political Economy of Manchester and Beyond 10: Tony Travers: London Within England - a City State? 11: Iain McLean: England in a Changing Fiscal Union Part IV: English Identity and Attitudes 12: John Curtice: How Do People in England Want to Be Governed? 13: Michael Kenny: English Nationalism in Historical Perspective
