Introduction

The volumes are intended as a contribution to the task of putting a local perspective into the history of twentieth-century British politics and society. There has been a peculiar hostility to the importance of the local dimension in British political history, especially in relation to the study of the twentieth century. This is perhaps unsurprising in a country where political power has long been concentrated at the centre. Whatever the economic and social weight British regions or cities may have possessed historically, London was where national politics was conducted. The contrast with, say, Germany makes the point. Citystates like Hamburg or lander (local states) like Bavaria retained political significance and power to a much greater extent than Birmingham or Lancashire. The balance within historical study began to be redressed somewhat by the growth of social history in the second half of this century, and of more specialised fields such as labour history and women's history. From these new perspectives, the distinctive economic functions and varied social and cultural features of localities were much more obvious and more important. At least to some extent this greater concern with the local has spilled over into political history. To a degree as well, recent political trends have encouraged this development. For instance, the results of British elections since the 1980s have begun to contradict long-held beliefs amongst political scientists in the immutable connections between social class and political allegiance. Thus other factors such as gender, age and locality have begun to assume greater importance in political analysis. The concept of the 'north-south divide', much discussed after the 1983 and 1987 general elections, is the best example of how the political significance of locality has become of greater interest. The great potential, and also the pitfalls, of local studies have by now been much discussed, and there is not the space here to repeat the debate.' It is sufficient to say that a degree of consensus exists that local histories should play some part in the wider understanding of British politics and society. However,

also in its own right'? Local studies taken on their own become a collection of empirical data, and they must still be put into a national or even wider context to have an historical meaning.