In a referendum in November 2004, the people of the North East decisively rejected the proposal to create a directly elected Regional Assembly. This result effectively put an end to proposals for Regional Assemblies elsewhere as plans for referenda in other regions were consequently abandoned. Drawing upon detailed interviews with a wide range of stakeholders in the North East, this article assesses why the North East voted ‘No’ and argues that, despite the subsequent emergence of the city-region as an alternative framework for governance, what is still needed is a serious commitment to democratic renewal. Democratic connections between citizens and the state, between the taxpayer and public services, need to be rebuilt. Only a reinvigorated democracy can begin to dispel the cynicism and alienation that characterises the contemporary political process — and which was a main factor behind the ‘No’ vote in the referendum. Given the failure of political devolution at the regional level, genuine democratic renewal must now be taken forward at the local level.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Cabinet Office (2002) Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions. Cm 5511 (London: HMSO).
2.
Campaign for the English Regions and Local Government Information Unit (2004) Regions That Work (Newcastle: CFER).
3.
CousinsJ.DavisR.PaddonM.WatonA. (1974). Aspects of contradiction in regional policy: the case of North-East England, Regional Studies, 8(2), pp. 133–144.
4.
Department of Communities & Local Government (DCLG) (2006) Strong and Prosperous Communities (London: HMSO).
5.
Federal Trust (2003) Encouraging Democracy and Stakeholder Participation in the English Regions (London: Federal Trust).
6.
FungA.Olin WrightE. (2001) Deepened democracy: innovations in participatory governance, Politics and Society, 29(i), pp. 5–41.
7.
GoodchildB.HickmanP. (2006) Towards a regional strategy for the north of England? An assessment of ‘The Northern Way’, Regional Studies, 40(1), pp. 121–133.
8.
House of Commons Select Committee on Communities and Local Government (2007) Is there a future for Regional Government? HC 352-I (London: The Stationery Office).
HudsonR. (1989) Wrecking a Region: State Policies, Party Politics and Regional Change in North East England, London: Pion).
11.
HudsonR. (2006) Regional devolution and regional economic success: myths and illusions about power, Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, 88(2), pp. 159–171.
12.
HumphreyL.ShawK. (2004) Regional devolution and democratic renewal: developing a radical approach to stakeholder involvement in the English Regions, Environment and Planning: A, 36, pp. 2183–2202.
13.
HumphreyL.ShawK. (2006) Developing inclusive approaches to regional governance in the post-referendum North East, Regional and Federal Studies, 16(2), pp. 197–220.
KnockK. (2006) The North East referendum: lessons learnt, Parliamentary Affairs, 59(4), pp. 682–693.
16.
LeachR.Percy-SmithJ. (2001) Local Governance in Britain (Basingstoke: Palgrave).
17.
LindsayI. (2000) The new civic forums, Political Quarterly, 71(4), pp. 404–411.
18.
Lyons Inquiry into Local Government (2007) Place-shaping: a shared ambition for the future of local government. http://www.lyonsinquiry.org.uk/.
19.
McCallC.WilliamsonA. (2001) Governance and democracy in Northern Ireland: the role of the voluntary and community sector after the agreement, Governance, 14(3), pp. 363–383.
20.
MilburnA. (2006) Ministers can't fix this mess but people can, The Sunday Times, 24 December.
North East Constitutional Convention (2000) Time for a Change: The Case for a New North East Assembly (Newcastle: North East Constitutional Convention).
ODPM (2006) A Framework for City Regions (London: HMSO).
25.
O'NeillM. (Ed) (2004) Devolution and British Politics (London: Pearson Longman).
26.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2006) Building a Competitive City-Region: the Case of Newcastle in the North East (Paris: OECD).
27.
PearceG. (2005) Emerging patterns of governance in the English regions, Regions (newsletter of the Regional Studies Association), No 260, December.
28.
PimlottB (1985) Unemployment and the unemployed in North East England, The Political Quarterly, 56(4), pp. 346–360
29.
RallingsC.ThrasherM. (2005) Why the North East said No: the 2004 referendum on an elected regional assembly. Devolution Briefing Paper 19, ESRC Devolution and Constitutional Change Research Programme, Economic and Social Research Council.
30.
RobinsonF. (2002) The North East: a Journey through time, City, 6(3), pp. 317–334.
31.
RobinsonF.ShawK. (2003) Who governs North East of England — a regional perspective on governance in North East England, in: CornforthC. (Ed) The Governance of Public and Non-Profit Organisations (Abingdon: Routledge).
32.
RobinsonF.ShawK.DuttonJ.GraingerP.HopwoodB.WilliamsS. (2000) Who runs the North East … now?Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Durham.
33.
SandfordM. (2001) Future Steps for Regional Chambers (London: The Constitution Unit, University of London).
34.
ShawK.RobinsonF.HopwoodB.DavidsonG. (2006) Governance and Governing in the Post-referendum North East (Newcastle: University of Northumbria).
35.
SkelcherC. (2004). The new governance of communities, in: StokerG.WilsonD. (Eds) British Local Government into the 21st Century (Basingstoke: Palgrave).
36.
SorabjiD. (2005). The accidental renaissance of local government, Local Economy, 20(1), pp. 6–12.
37.
StokerG. (2001) Governance by lottery? New Labour's strategy for reforming local and devolved institutions in Britain. Paper presented to PSA Annual Conference, April 2001.
