In England, the term North–South divide refers to the cultural, economic, and social differences between: Southern England: the South East and South West, including Greater London and the East of England Northern England: the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West including Merseyside and Greater Manchester. There is also the central region of the Midlands which historically was administered by the Kingdom of Mercia whose borders were defined by the Mersey, the Humber, the Severn and the Thames as shown by its flag, a saltire cross. Counties in the north of the area, such as Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Staffordshire, and Shropshire, are sometimes seen as Northern. A grouping of 'Central England' based on European parliamentary constituency boundaries combined the Midlands and East Anglia until the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union in January 2020. The cultural, economic, and social differences between the north and the south are reflected in English politics. Between the early 20th century and 2019, the Labour Party was the dominant political party in the north and the Conservative Party was dominant in the south. The north heavily voted for Brexit in 2016, whereas the south was slightly less supportive. The 2019 general election is sometimes described as a great political realignment as a result of Brexit, with north moving significantly towards the pro-Brexit Conservatives and away from Labour who were split on the issue of Brexit. However, Danny MacKinnon, Professor of Regional Development and Governance at Newcastle University, noted that Labour's vote share in the north outside of metropolitan areas had declined consistently since 2001, with the exception of 2017. An article in The Economist published in 2012 argued that the gap between the north and south in life expectancy, political inclinations and economics trends was growing to the extent that they were almost separate countries. Existence The North–South divide is not an exact line, but one that can involve many stereotypes, presumptions and other impressions of the surrounding region relative to other regions. The existence of the North–South divide is fiercely contested. Some sources claim that not only does it exist, but that it is expanding. For example, a Cambridge Econometrics report of March 2006 found that economic growth above the UK average was occurring only in the South and South East England, whilst North East England showed the slowest growth. The same data has been interpreted otherwise to