Local but Not Parochial: How Community Attachment Reinforces Multi-Level Identity and Integration in Scotland and Wales

Research on multi-level politics has examined how identities operate across state-wide, sub-state, and supra-state levels, yet it has largely overlooked how very local identities fit within this framework. This paper investigates how local community identification relates to higher-level identities in Scotland and Wales, two devolved nations that share comparable, though not identical, constitutional trajectories. Drawing on original survey data, it estimates parallel models of local, British, national (Scottish/Welsh), and European identities, incorporating socio-demographic, spatial, political, and attitudinal factors. The findings show that local belonging is strongest among older, wealthier, and minority respondents and coexists positively with national, British, and European attachments. In Scotland, local attachment also aligns with pro-independence sentiment; in Wales, it reflects both Welsh and British identities and remains detached from constitutional divides. These results challenge assumptions of parochial localism, showing that local attachment can provide an inclusive foundation for multi-level legitimacy in a devolved United Kingdom.