Middle England

The phrase "Middle England" is a socio-political term which generally refers to middle class or lower-middle class people in England who hold traditional conservative or right-wing views.

The origins of the term "Middle England" are not known. Writer Ian Hislop found evidence of the British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury's using the term in 1882, but it did not gain popularity at the time. Modern popular usage of the phrase has been attributed to Margaret Thatcher who, according to the historian David Cannadine, introduced the expression into political phraseology by adopting Richard Nixon's concept of "Middle America".

The primary meaning of the term is now a political or sociological one (as is also the case for the term "Middle America" or "Middle Australia"). It principally indicates the middle classes or lower-middle classes of non-urban Britain, but also carries connotations of "Deep England". John Major’s 1993 speech to the Conservative Group for Europe is often cited, evoking romantic imagery of rural cricket matches, warm beer, suburban gardens, and “old maids bicycling to Holy Communion through the morning mist” (itself a quote from George Orwell).

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