Thatcherism and its geographical legacies: the new map of socio‐spatial inequality in the D ivided K ingdom

The 1979 election heralded a political sea change in the UK , as T hatcherite ‘ T wo N ation’ politics regarded inequality as evidence of a vibrant capitalism. As a result, inter‐regional inequalities were exacerbated as the effects of deindustrialisation, capacity reductions and job losses fell most heavily in the ‘ N orth’. The lifting of restrictions on capital export precipitated the overseas relocation of private sector manufacturing, with job losses concentrated in the ‘ N orth’. Cuts to nationalised industries were also concentrated in the ‘ N orth’. Meanwhile the ‘ S outh’ benefitted because of the primacy given to banking and financial services in economic policy priorities and the spatially selective concentration of G overnment spending on R & D and infrastructure. However, there were also widening intraregional inequalities within both ‘ N orth’ and ‘ S outh’, not least because of housing policies. Crucially, post‐ T hatcher the neoliberal emphases on private sector growth and commodification were adopted by N ew L abour and C onservative– L iberal coalition governments so that socio‐spatial inequality became more deeply embedded in a D ivided K ingdom.