Here Versus There: Place-Based Political Representation and Voting in England

People often care about the place where they live, and political parties can be rewarded for representing that place. However, research on the representation of places has tended to focus on rural areas and minority nations, so less is known about the impact of place-based representation more generally. We address this gap by exploring the importance of place-based representation in England in the 2024 UK General Election. Utilising original data from the British Election Study Internet Panel, we find that perceiving a major party as representing one's own region within England strongly predicts voting for that party, while the belief that parties prioritise the 'core' (London) over their region correlates with radical right support. This paper has important implications for other multilevel states, as it indicates how place-based representation can be important in majority regions/nations.