ABSTRACT
The historic fragility of English regionalism is widely recognised. No democratic governmental form developed at the regional level and until the 1990s there was negligible political debate. Indeed, there was little agreement about the existence or nature of regional identities, a fact reflected by overlapping and confusing definitions of regions which led to a multiplicity of mutually inconsistent boundary overlays. The region was seldom seen as a focus for the exercise of administrative discretion or professional expertise; in terms of civil service careers it was at best a stepping stone, at worst a graveyard.
