A growing north-south divide in British voting patterns, 1979-1987

Initial interpretations of the results of the 1987 British general election suggest that one of the major features was the increasing spatial variation in the support for the various parties [e.g. DENVER (1987, Parliamentary Affairs, 40, 449-457)]. Those early statements were based on simple tabulations of voting percentages, and were paralleled by journalistic accounts which emphasised the growth of the so-called north-south divide. This paper presents a more detailed statistical analysis of voting trends since 1979, to establish the extent of the growth in the divide (if any) over the three successive general elections won by the Conservative party.