Editing South West England (section)

===Regional identity===
The boundaries of the South West region are based upon those devised by central government in the 1930s for civil defence administration and subsequently used for various statistical analyses. The region is also similar to that used in the 17th-century [[Rule of the Major-Generals]] under [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]]. (For further information, see [[Historical and alternative regions of England]]). By the 1960s, the South West region (including Dorset, which for some previous purposes had been included in a Southern region), was widely recognised for government administration and statistics. The boundaries were carried forward into the 1990s when regional administrations were formally established as Government Office Regions. A [[South West Regional Assembly|regional assembly]] and [[South West of England Regional Development Agency|regional development agency]] were created in 1999, then abolished in 2008 and 2012 respectively.

It has been argued{{by whom|date=August 2022}} that the official South West region does not possess a cultural and historic unity or identity of itself, which has led to criticism of it as an "artificial" construct. The large area of the region, stretching as it does from the Isles of Scilly to Gloucestershire, encompasses diverse areas which have little more in common with each other than they do with other areas of England. The region has several TV stations and newspapers based in different areas, and no single acknowledged regional "capital". Many people in the region have some level of a "South West" or "West Country" regional identity, although this may not necessarily correspond to an identification with the official government-defined [[Regions of England|region]]. It is common for people in the region to identify at a national level (whether [[English nationalism|English]], [[British nationalism|British]], [[Cornish nationalism|Cornish]] or a county, city or town level). Identifying as being from 'the Westcountry', amorphous though it is, tends to be more predominant further into the peninsula where the status of being from the region is less equivocal.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/spp/publications/unit-publications/94.pdf | title=The Cornish Question: Devolution in the South-West Region | last=Sandford | first=Mark | publisher=UCL | access-date=12 February 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221191805/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/spp/publications/unit-publications/94.pdf | archive-date=21 February 2011 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/13785851/Regional-Spaces-Spaces-of-Regionalism-Territory-Insurgent-Politics-and-the-English-Question |title=Regional Spaces: Spaces of Regionalism, Territory, Insurgent Politics and the English Question |publisher=Scribd.com |date=31 March 2009 |access-date=24 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118042520/http://www.scribd.com/doc/13785851/Regional-Spaces-Spaces-of-Regionalism-Territory-Insurgent-Politics-and-the-English-Question |archive-date=18 January 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In particular, [[Cornwall]]'s inclusion in the region is disputed by Cornish nationalists.<ref>{{cite web |author=Cornish Constitutional Convention |url=http://www.cornishassembly.org/caseforcornwall.htm |title=Campaign for a Cornish Assembly |publisher=Cornishassembly.org |access-date=24 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310230049/http://www.cornishassembly.org/caseforcornwall.htm |archive-date=10 March 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> The cross-party [[Cornish Constitutional Convention]] and Cornish nationalist party [[Mebyon Kernow]] have campaigned for a [[Cornish Assembly]] ever since the idea of regional devolution was put forward.