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Research project

The Revival of the Urban-Rural Divide in Western Europe? A comparative study of the geography of discontent and political representation

Staff

Lead researchers

Dr Lawrence Mckay BA, MRes, PhD

Senior Research Fellow
Research interests
  • Lawrence is developing a research agenda around geographic divides in political attitudes, between richer and poorer areas, central and 'peripheral' areas, and above all between urban and rural areas. Forthcoming papers explore why voters perceive local decline, unpack citizen beliefs about government's biases towards urban centres, and conduct experiments on the politics of 'levelling-up'.
Connect with Lawrence

Email: L.A.Mckay@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Professor Will Jennings

Associate Dean Research & Enterprise
Research interests
  • Public policy
  • Public opinion
  • Polling
Connect with Will

Email: W.J.Jennings@soton.ac.uk

Research outputs

Countryside champions or urban allies? What rural and urban citizens want from elected representatives
Lawrence McKay, 2025, Electoral Studies, 95
DOI: 10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102937
Type: article
Understanding the geography of discontent: perceptions of government’s biases against left-behind places
Lawrence McKay, Will Jennings & Gerry Stoker, 2023, Journal of European Public Policy
DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2023.2277381
Type: article
Social ties, trust and the geography of discontent
Lawrence McKay, Will Jennings & Gerry Stoker, 2023, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society
Type: article
What is the geography of trust?
Lawrence McKay, William Jennings & Gerry Stoker, 2023, Political Geography, 102
DOI: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2023.102863
Type: article
Last Word: ‘Levelling up’
Lawrence McKay, 2023, Political Insight, 14(1)
DOI: 10.1177/20419058231167272
Type: article