Andy Burnham, dubbed the 'King of the North,' has become the UK's first northern Prime Minister in decades. Born in Aintree, Merseyside, he is widely considered northern, but the question of where the North actually begins remains divisive.
Margaret Thatcher, born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, left power in 1990 and could be considered the most recent northern PM, though this is controversial. Harold Wilson, born in Huddersfield, is more clearly northern, serving as Labour PM from 1964-1970 and 1974-1976.
Public opinions on the north-south divide
Daily Star geography correspondent Joshua Whorms asked the public to draw the north-south divide on a map. No two answers were the same. Some borders were straight, others curved around counties, and one controversially placed the line at Birmingham, erasing the Midlands entirely.
Peter Began, 72, said the north includes 'anywhere Hull and upwards,' but after thought added: 'I'd say north of Cheshire, Derby, South Yorkshire. Sheffield I think is north, and Manchester, Bradford, Leeds – and they're a bit south of Hull.'
Robin Wells, 33, drew her border around Middlesbrough, placing Leeds, Manchester, and Liverpool outside the north. She admitted: 'Thought I'd go too low. I was so worried I'd go too low. I grew up here [in London]. I have no idea.'
Ranjan Kumaran, 48, placed Manchester, Cheshire, and Sheffield in the north, but said Grimsby should be in the Midlands. He added: 'Lincoln's a weird one. They sound northern to me so that's the north for me. Like Norfolk is south and Lincoln is north to me. It’s just the way they sound – I quite like the northern twang!'
Expert views
DJ and presenter Stuart Maconie, author of Pies & Prejudice (2007), wrote: 'According to legend, the north begins at the RAC Traffic Centre on the M6 just at the point where the road surface changes from tarmac to cobbles.' That would place it in Walsall, West Midlands, but he later concludes the north starts in Crewe.
Dr Sneha Krishnan, Associate Professor of Human Geography at Oxford University, explained why it's tricky: there's no official split. She said it's more about 'where power is centred and where regional deprivation has been concentrated, particularly in the years after deindustrialisation.' She added: 'There aren’t widely agreed upon answers for where the North of the UK begins, and indeed where the divide is north-south or south east and the rest. Because it’s less a matter of objective physical location, as a relationship to the centre of power in the south and southeast.'
She noted that when people refer to the north, they often think of issues like unemployment, deindustrialisation, housing shortages, and struggling high streets, 'and the sense of potential wasted as wealth and power continue to be concentrated in London and the South East.'
Andy Burnham’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
