Derived from two conferences held in 2003 at Teesside and Durham, this collection of essays draws together work from established scholars in order to examine regional aspects of politics in urban life. The focus of each essay is an urban space, region or city, from the nineteenth to twentieth century. In his introduction, the editor, Barry Doyle, describes the varying themes the book centres on, such as elites, gender, modernity and progressivism, with space as the ‘central organising thread’ (p. 2). By exploring the interactions between politics, space and region, this volume sets out to re-introduce and re-examine the history of party, which has attracted little attention from urban historians. Accordingly these essays challenge the contention that party became increasingly influential in the conduct of local politics by placing primacy on the town as a regional focus. The key aim of this collection is to bring party, place and region together, challenging views about the dominance of party and the weakness of region.

The essays are divided into three sections in order to explore the structure of politics, urban management and governance. In ‘the structure of politics’ Richard Trainor investigates political expression and urban conflict to determine how politics shaped urban community in the Black Country. Arguing that politics in both local government and the parliamentary sphere reflected the aspirations of social groups in urban districts, he contends that elections served to develop broader town and district identities. In this vein, municipal identity and civic culture are scrutinized by Nick Hayes and Shane Ewen. Surveying the social participatory structure of local government in Birmingham and Nottingham, Hayes examines how the elite located themselves within an increasingly partisan system. Middle-class authority in local government grew over the long term, while the elite exerted a dominant influence over charity and associational work. Ewen argues that Midland cities had a lasting impact on local capital movements and civic government during the first decades of the twentieth century. The reality of central–local tensions highlights the fact that local politics and administrative structures did not simply mirror those of local government. Contributors highlight the strength of volunteerism and the power of local authority. In his study of Lancashire public asylum provision, Bob Hayes suggests that local, pragmatic and especially financial considerations all affected countrywide co-operation in policy. Lunacy legislation neither required nor facilitated national procedure, while co-operative development was not inevitable as civic individualism emerged. Similarly Peter Shapely argues that overspill estate policies in Manchester were seriously affected by clashes between local authorities. The sites for overspill acquired significant political meaning and became spaces of political conflict. Shapely shows it was local rather than national politics that thwarted the Manchester overspill policy. These authors show that local politics became dominated by issues of space and how spaces were to be used in the face of nineteenth-century industrialization and twentieth-century moves towards modernity.

A variety of sources have been utilized throughout the collection to demonstrate how urban spaces were defined. Geoff Timmins assesses accommodation standards in the early Victorian period using contemporary physical and map evidence. Bill Luckin contends that oral evidence of 1930s slum dwellers in Manchester remains central to the understanding of slum policy. He shows that space determined human behaviour in slums, as spatial, social scientific and economic perspectives began to displace the moralistic ‘Victorian and Edwardian’ approach. In the one chapter focusing on gender, George Sheeran suggests that the growth of the nineteenth-century textile city created a different, regionally specific, order of urban space. Analysing verses and paintings Sheeran demonstrates that the towns of the Pennines developed a ‘female factory experience’ that did not exist elsewhere as a result of the unique nature of its textile industry. Finally, Tim Copper examines the politics of a working-class suburb in Walthamstow at the turn of the century. He demonstrates that Conservatives utilized history, heritage and identity when in opposition, and that class politics remained at the heart of local politics. These essays demonstrate the weakness of central government in determining the policy of urban areas, and highlight the many factors that impact upon decision-making in local government: modernity, locality and civic individualism. The focus of the collection lies within the period between 1870 and 1940, so there is less material on material on the nineteenth century than suggested, but rich pickings for the late Victorian and Edwardian period. This collection illustrates the problems with confining actions to ‘party’ politics at a local level, and highlights the need to reassess the role of party in urban spaces. Regional spaces both define and are defined by local politics, and the need further to contextualize urban history within its region becomes clear. Doyle offers an eclectic but well-compiled selection of essays which will provide a basis for studies of regional political space.