<P> The division is sometimes used for comedy, but has its serious side as well . The London media are sometimes claimed to look down upon those with northern English accents . For example, Ken Livingstone (a Londoner) suggested that the press's unsympathetic treatment of John Prescott was partly because he is one to "speak like ordinary people". </P> <P> Some linguistic research has concluded that many people in the North of England have a dislike of the / ɑː / vowel in BATH words . AF Gupta wrote, "Many of the northerners were noticeably hostile to / ɡrɑːs /, describing it as' comical',' snobbish',' pompous' or even' for morons' ." On the subject, KM Petyt wrote that several respondents "positively said that they did not prefer the long - vowel form or that they really detested it or even that it was incorrect" Mark Newbrook has assigned this phenomenon the name "conscious rejection", and has cited the BATH vowel as "the main instance of conscious rejection of RP" in his research in the West Wirral . </P> <P> Within the Church of England, a North--South divide appeared in England with the Province of York in the north and the Province of Canterbury in the south . This drew rough lines for a North--South divide . The North was also a stronghold of religious Nonconformism during its industrial heyday . </P> <P> Industrial decline is most usually given as an explanation for the North - South divide . During the Industrial Revolution, many northern cities underwent a process of intense industrialisation, as raw materials such as coal and iron ore could be found in these areas . This led to comparatively high wealth; Shaw, Greater Manchester reportedly had the highest concentration of millionaires in the country at the time . It also led to over reliance on a few key industries and, as heavy industry began to leave the UK for developing countries under the' New international division of Labour', these areas declined rapidly . Events like the UK miners' strike (1984--85) polarised public opinion and led to an increase in the divide . </P>

Where does the midlands end and the north begin