Social media will let tomorrow's leaders bridge north-south divide

Until April, I was living in a London borough – where 160 languages are spoken, where 55 per cent of the population (and 65 per cent of the children) are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, and where the families range from some of the very poorest to the richest. The 10 houses next to mine contained people born in 16 different countries; every combination of colour, religion, language and background was there.

Now, in my north-east home, less than four per cent of the local authority’s population comes from a black or ethnic minority background. Of course there is much diversity – in people’s experiences, in their attitudes and approaches, income, education, ambitions – but that sense of a great melting pot of humanity from across the globe that is so evident in London is not seen here.

London is perhaps the most ethnically diverse city on earth, bringing much innovation, some tension, vibrancy and insecurity. Because London is also the capital city, and the place where most of the journalists live, the diversity within London has influenced the ways in which policies are discussed. On the face of it, this can bring a real strength to the way in which big issues are addressed – there is hardly an issue in the world that cannot be seen somewhere in London. But it can also have a downside. In some parts of the country, London’s multi-coloured face is hard to relate to. London is not a microcosm of the UK – it is an outlier in its diversity and its economy.

The lived experience of people varies so greatly across the country. London’s economy bears little relation to the economies of most of the regions. Local authorities have faced deeper budget cuts; unemployment has risen. National policy is written with a sharper eye on the issues facing London and the south-east than elsewhere.

National news is not good at accommodating regional variation. Take the coverage of the funeral of Margaret Thatcher; the TV coverage from London was largely respectful, yet the regional news items from the north focused almost entirely on the sense of hurt and anger felt by so many within communities that had suffered most during the 1980s. TV viewers from the north did not feel their perspective was being heard by the pundits in London; many viewers in London (especially younger ones) found it hard to relate to the power of the feelings on display in the old mining communities.

Take another example. In recent weeks, the national media focus has been on how the local election results demonstrated a resurgence of support for UKIP as a punch in the nose for the establishment. But was this really the case across the country? In the 10 most northern local authorities that had elections, UKIP representation went down; it was in the southern shire counties that UKIP’s vote went up so much. Protest voting for a party led by an ex-banker may be seen as snubbing the establishment in some parts of the country, but not in most. Protest from young people came not from voting for UKIP – it came from them staying away from the polling stations. National media coverage written from the perspective of the south can undermine the confidence of people from other corners of the country to engage in politics.

This barrier to communication between the regions of the UK seems to parallel the barrier across the age divide. For all of us, but especially for young people, if we feel that the national dialogue is not speaking about us and our issues, we become alienated and feel disempowered. Clearly there is a geographical divide – north-east and south-east sometimes feel like different countries divided by a common language – but I suspect age difference is the greater barrier.

Mainstream national political debate has become largely a debate between and about older people and their interests. Young people debate issues as vigorously as they ever have, but now increasingly through social media – a place where few older people dare to tread. So it is not just that people of different ages tend to discuss topics in different ways – today they are doing so in different places.

Here lies the problem, and the answer. In the short term, the possibilities for young ideas to break into the discourse of older people, and influence the way in which power is wielded, seem to have reduced. But social media is taking over as the dominant system of communication. Young people are more adept at using social media. Young people too come from more diverse backgrounds, and bring more diverse and innovative ideas. So the next generation of media and political leaders will hopefully reflect the diversity of today’s young people. They just might be better at overcoming the challenges of difference than our generation has been. 

Sir Paul Ennals is a children’s services consultant and former chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau