About this ebook
The book presents competing interpretations of the state of English nationhood, examining the views that little of significance has changed, that Englishness has been captured by populist nationalism, and that a more progressive, inclusive Englishness is struggling to emerge. We conclude that England's national consciousness remains fragmented due to deep cleavages in its political culture, and the absence of a reflective national conversation about England's identity and relationship with the rest of the UK and the wider world. Brexit was a (largely) English revolt, tapping into unease about England's place within two intersecting Unions (British and European), but it is easier to identify what the nation spoke against than what it voted for.
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About the author
Michael Kenny is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. He has written extensively on British politics and political ideas, and is the author of The Politics of English Nationhood (Oxford University Press, 2014) which won the W.J.M. Mackenzie prize awarded by the Political Studies Association of the UK in 2015. He is currently working on a project, funded by ESRC, examining the implications of Brexit for the UK's territorial constitution.
Iain McLean is a fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, and a specialist in UK devolution since his time as a senior member of Tyne & Wear County Council in the 1970s. He has published widely on the Barnett Formula and alternative transfer mechanisms, including those used in Australia. He has served on the Independent Expert Group advising the Calman Commission in Scotland, and an expert group advising the Minister of Finance in Wales on local taxation.
Akash Paun is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Government in London, leading research on devolution and constitutional change. He was Expert Adviser to the British Academy Governing England programme, out of which this book emerged. Recent publications include Four Nation Brexit: How the UK and Devolved Governments Should Work Together on Leaving the EU (2016) and chapters on devolution to four English regions in Governing England: devolution and mayors in England (2017).
