The North Midlands is a loosely defined area covering the northern parts of the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

in England. It is not one of the ITL regions like the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

or the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. A statistical definition in 1881 included the counties of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, an area historically known as the

Five Burghs The Five Boroughs or The Five Boroughs of the Danelaw were the five main towns of Danish Mercia (what is now the East Midlands). These were Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford. The first four later became county towns. Establ ...

of Danelaw. A

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

civil defence region called North Midland included the five counties and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. It has remained in informal use for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the northern parts of Lincolnshire and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, and sometimes the far south of

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. A North Midlands

combined authority area A combined authority is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a group ...

was proposed in 2016 for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, but cancelled later that year.

History and extent

A North Midlands region was first defined for the 1881

UK census Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 (during the Second World War), Ireland in 1921/Northern Ireland in 1931,https://www.nisra.gov. ...

. It was defined as the entirety of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. A new definition of the region appeared in 1939, for various government statistical purposes: Derbyshire without High Peak, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland and the Soke of Peterborough. In 1942, High Peak was added, but it was removed again in 1946. In 1962, it was merged into a new Midlands statistical region. The North Midlands has remained in use as an informal term for part of the area, covering Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the northern parts of Lincolnshire and Staffordshire, and Cheshire and South Yorkshire to a lesser degree, even though Staffordshire, Cheshire and South Yorkshire never formed part of the statistical region. For example, in the 1960s, Sheffield was described in an official publication as "the vigorous shopping and cultural centre of the North Midlands". The introduction to J. B. Priestley's play '' An Inspector Calls'' specifies that it is set in the fictional town of Brumley in the North Midlands.

Organisations

The

North Midlands Helicopter Support Unit The North Midlands Helicopter Support Unit was a joint consortium established in 1998 to provide police aviation for Derbyshire Constabulary and Nottinghamshire Police. It was managed by John Jameson and operated a Eurocopter EC135 from Derbyshi ...

was operated jointly by

and

Derbyshire Police Derbyshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Derbyshire, England. The force covers an area of over with a population of just under one million. Organisation and structure To police the county ...

until 2013, when all police air support functions were taken over by the newly formed National Police Air Service. The service subsequently closed the North Midlands unit in 2016. The

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust was created on 1 November 2014. It runs Royal Stoke University Hospital, formerly run by the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust and the County Hospital (formerly Stafford Hosp ...

operates in Staffordshire and covers the Royal Stoke University Hospital in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

and Stafford County Hospital. A North Midlands Combined Authority was to have been formed in 2017. South Derbyshire District Council, High Peak Borough Council, Amber Valley Borough Council and Erewash Borough Council all voted to reject the proposal, and Chesterfield Borough Council decided to sign up to the

South Yorkshire Combined Authority The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is the combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport (public transport and major trunk roads only), economic development and regeneration. It covers a total area of ...

instead.

Politics

The North Midlands covers a part of the red wall; areas traditionally represented by the Labour Party and which voted to Leave the European Union in the 2016 Referendum, and which subsequently swung to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

at the 2019 General Election. Constituencies in the region which typified this trend include Bolsover (where the veteran Labour MP since 1970, Dennis Skinner, lost his seat), Bassetlaw (where the largest Labour to Conservative swing occurred),

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

, and all three constituencies of city of

References

External links

Proposed North Midlands Combined AuthorityNorth Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership
{{coord , 53, N, 1.5, W, type:adm2nd_region:GB, display=title Regions of England

History and extent

Organisations

Politics

See also

References

External links