North–South divide in England

In England, the term North–South divide refers to the cultural, economic, and social differences between Southern England and Northern England:

• Southern England usually refers to South East England, South West England and in some definitions, The East Of England, including Greater London.
• Northern England usually refers to North East England, Yorkshire and the Humber and North West England including Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

There is also the central region of the Midlands which historically was administered by the Kingdom of Mercia whose borders were defined by the Mersey, the Humber, the Severn and the Thames as shown by its flag, a saltire cross. Counties in the north of the area, such as Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland and Staffordshire are sometimes seen as Northern. A grouping of "Central England" based on European parliamentary constituency boundaries combined the Midlands and East Anglia until the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union in January 2020.

The cultural, economic, and social disparities between the north and the south are reflected in English politics. Between the early 20th century and 2019, the Labour Party was the dominant political party in the north and the Conservative Party was dominant in the south. The 2019 general election is sometimes described as a great political realignment as a result of Brexit, with north moving significantly towards the pro-Brexit Conservatives and away from Labour who were split on the issue of Brexit. However, Danny MacKinnon, Professor of Regional Development and Governance at Newcastle University, noted that Labour's vote share in the north outside of metropolitan areas had declined consistently since 2001, with the exception of 2017.

An article in The Economist published in 2012 argued that the gap between the north and south in life expectancy, political inclinations and economics trends was growing to the extent that they were almost separate countries.