Northern independence

Northern England Devolution is the broad term used to describe the wish for devolved governmental powers that would give more autonomy to the Northern Counties (those northern parts of England in the North–South divide in the United Kingdom ).

History of Autonomy/secession movement
The North of England has traditionally had a culture separate to the south. One of the first bodies formed to address local autonomy issues and grievances was the "Council of the North" formed in 1988. This was in response to the North's concern with the taking over of York based Rowntree by the Swiss firm, Nestle. The original Council of the North had last met in the 17th century to deal with the chaos of the English civil war. The council met, and while it was attended by noted businessmen and politicians, little came of it and the movement soon petered out.

The more recent push for Scottish independence has had its affect on the North of England, with the 2004 North East England devolution referendum held in order to decide whether to establish a parliament for the North. This has partly been spurred on by the feeling that London and the south are culturally different to the North, with some commentary stating that the "real" English are seen as the South. There are also concerns that if Scotland was to become independent, then economic factors associated with this would negatively affect the North, with industry/investment going to Scotland with possible tax breaks. Establishing a separate country or autonomous region is seen by some as a way to stop this. Alternatively, a potential more successful focussed economic hub based around scotland could benefit the North of England, as their population centre is closer to it than to London. . To some, the differences between london and Scotland are similiar to the differences between London and the North of England.

Economically, North Eastern Businesses have called for greater control over the region's financial affairs. However, despite these sentiments, the 2004 referendum for more autonomy was convincingly rejected, with a voter turnout of 45%. 2015 saw a petition for part of the North to secede and join Scotland gain 28,000 signatures.

The modern devolution movement
In 2014, the people within the North of England indicated in a survey by the BBC that there was a greater wish for devolution of some powers at least. The survey indicated that 85% of people in the North wanted control of policing, taxation and education handed over to the region. There is also a perceived continuing widening of the North South divide, which continues to highlight the issue to people living in the North.

Various parties have been formed to test the issues in elections, including the North East Party in 2014, the Northern Party in 2015.

The Yorkshire Party looks specifically at the issue of a devolved assembly for Yorkshire. Government policy relating to the 2020 epidemic also created tension between the North and the UK Government, which gave rise to some discussion of a separate region as a way of giving more say to the area.

A smaller movement is that of Liverpool. An estimated three-quarters of Liverpudlians have Irish ancestry, causing some to identify more strongly as Scouse or Irish than English. In 1885, Liverpool Scotland elected an Irish Nationalist, T. P. O'Connor, as their MP. 59% voted remain in the 2016 EU referendum. #ScouseNotEnglish trended on Twitter following the result of the 2019 general election as Merseyside constituencies had some of the highest Labour vote shares in the country.

In 2020 a new party, the Northern Independence Party (NIP) was formed on making the North of England independent of the south, much like the SNP seeks an independent Scotland. The NIP was formed in order to test the 2024 elections, its goal being to establish an independent country in the North of England, based on historic Northumbria. While the NIP have nominated York as a proposed capital of an independent Northern England,   Manchester and Liverpool have also been raised as options.