Hinterland Politics

The Royal Commission on Local Government in England argued that size and proximity to an urban centre were important factors in explaining the differing degrees of parish political activity. This paper examines in more detail the reasons for the differing degrees of activity drawing upon my study in the Oxford area for illustrative examples. It must be emphasized at the very outset that the main objective of this paper is to suggest reasons for the variations in activity and not to compare the degrees of political activity in the Oxford area. In particular, I argue that proximity to an urban centre (location within the immediate hinterland) is more important than size and that there are three distinguishing features associated with location within the immediate hinterland. The distinguishing features are the rapidly growing parishes (size); the high expectations of suburban residents with regard to the standard of service provision (expectations); and the under-representation of the immediate hinterland on the County Council and the Rural District Councils (under-representation).