Talking about Brexit and Middle England on BBC Newsnight: the view from Tewksbury

Talking about Brexit and Middle England on BBC Newsnight: the view from Tewksbury

Danny Dorling: Talking about Brexit on BBC Newsnight 29th September 2016, starting in Tewksbury:

Most people who voted to leave the EU lived in the South of England. Most were social class A, B or C1. The middle classes may not have been the groups who were most likely to vote to leave, but because of both their absolute numbers and their high rate of turnout they were key to determining the final result.

All is not well in Middle England – public health was declining rapidly before the Brexit vote. Young adults had begun to stop voting in national elections from the early 1990s onwards, so why were we surprised they did not turn out in referenda later? Speculation and government intervention to boost prices ever upwards has seen the housing market become unaffordable. Health and social services have been cut following the introduction of austerity along with state spending in education. In hindsight why were we so surprised when people voted in such large numbers for anything but this?

Illustration by Joseph P Kelly

Illustration by Joseph P Kelly