The BBC interviewed someone from Newcastle under Lyme to illustrate the views of voters in the North on the news

[StealthPolarBear]

Surely it can't be considered northern

It's Midlands!!

It's not remotely "the north".

My sister in law is from there and considers it north. But was then surprised when I pointed out it was south of Sheffield....she thought it was further up than Sheffield! 🤷‍♀️ Personally I consider Sheffield the gateway to the north so Stoke is south of the north/south devide.

Divide.

Midlands. I know that because it's a two-hour drive from where I live in the North.

It’s always been Midlands to me.

I grew up on the Cheshire/staffs border not far from there and we had bbc north west tv therefore classed ourselves as northerners.

The BBC is based in Manchester now, they must know what northern is.

Totally north imo

where does 'The Midlands' stop and 'The North' start - exactly???

Crewe station. Pumpkin cafe on platform 6 specifically.

It’s in Staffordshire isn’t it? I always thought Staffordshire was West Midlands? Certainly was when I used to audit local authorities.

It's on a pretty similar latitude to Nottingham yes, I've just checked Nottingham is East Midlands.

West Midlands

Being from a place very very close to "Newcastle in the middle, not Newcastle up north" and now living in MK, I cannot tell you how much it pisses me off that "southerners" say anything above the Watford gap. Basic logic suggests that the north doesn't start close to the bottom.

I spend my days reminding people that I am not northern and that there's a whole section in the middle called the fucking midlands.

Most people just think of the country as North and South - in which case it's very much culturally in 'the North'.

However geographically it is very definitely Midlands since it is part of the West Midlands.

You can argue it's northern if you like and depending on your perspective you may have a point. But to describe it as "the north" particularly on a news article about voting and brexit seems a bit daft.

There's been a tendency for a while for northern and Brexity to be conflated. All those Remain voting northern cities complicate the narrative far too much.

Good point. So if you're a leave area you are northern by definitions :o interesting.

Yes. People from Manchester can never be as authentically northern as people from, erm, Stoke.

I’m in Lancashire, but originally from Birmingham. I would class it as the northern most part of the midlands. It’s definitely not ‘the north’.

Anything south of the Tyne is the South. Just for those still getting it wrong…!

So .... the north excludes Yorkshire and the Humber ??? 😳 bonkers

I think that was tongue in cheek. But as a child I thought Leeds was south

I think being northern is more to do with mentality and accent rather than geography.

It's north of Birmingham so it's in the north of England though not in the north of the UK.

I think being northern is more to do with mentality
So we can self-id? No. Either you're from the north, or you're not.
As for 'mentality' - how would you describe a 'Northern' mentality? I would love to hear.