Increasing Localism in Elected Politicians?

Comparing patterns of regional relationships between politicians’ constituencies and their place of birth for the European and UK parliamentary elections of 2009/10 and 2014/15 suggests increasing localism that will continue as older representatives are replaced by the younger generation. Such nationalism and regionalism within England could change UK political dynamics

Testing the Self-Sufficiency of Radiotherapy Catchment Areas

“Natural” catchment areas are important for supporting planning and marketing for a range of different public services, to enable improvements in access, quality and productivity. However, established methodologies used in their construction can mask varying patterns of cross-boundary movements. This issue was investigated in relation to radiotherapy services in England, using the Nomogramma di Gandy to test the degree of self-sufficiency of the 50 cancer centres’ “natural” catchment areas for 2011/12. The analyses demonstrated differential patterns across the country, and highlighted that an understanding or appreciation of the volatility of patient flows relating to different catchment areas is key to risk analysis when considering future trends in radiotherapy services and referral patterns. The Nomogramma di Gandy represents a high-level filter, which complements catchment area and population methodologies, and uses simple, available data to monitor trends over time. It readily enables the interpretation of self-sufficiency and patient flow dynamics across a large number of centres. In principle, the approach should be transferable to other public services that utilise catchment areas and populations

Paranormal Encounters on Britain's Roads

Book Review for Fortean Time

An Investigation of Politician Mobility in the United Kingdom

This article investigates the influence of the politics of presence in the most recent parliamentary and European elections in the United Kingdom by examining the question of politician mobility. It establishes the patterns of regional relationships between the constituencies served by elected representatives and their place of birth, and takes into account age, gender and political party. It includes the issues of seat marginality and ‘career politicians’. Analytical techniques include the Nomogramma di Gandy and multiple correspondence analysis. The UK regions, outside London, which have the highest number of Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) born per head of population are also the ones that have the least politician mobility. The south-east of England, and in particular London, have the greatest mobility. In general the patterns for MPs and MEPs are fairly similar, except in respect of age. Females were more likely to cross more than one regional boundary than males, particularly for Conservative MPs, and there was a higher differential in this regard for MEPs compared to MPs. It was concluded that while there is considerable politician mobility for both MPs and MEPs, the vast majority represent constituencies within their region of birth, or an adjacent region