Professor Paul Corrigan points out the contradictions and difficulties inherent in localism, arguing that pure localism is impractical and, indeed, impossible in our society.  Conflicts of interest can even be seen within local boundaries, as the ‘real localism’ of wards and neighbourhoods has to be overruled by local governments seeking to act for the good of the whole local area.

There are several aspects of nationalism in government that cut across a pure localism:

1)  All national political parties agree on some national standards and rights that should be there for everyone irrespective of their locality: local authorities cannot opt out of central policies of the national government.

2)  Additionally, centre-left political parties argue that national expenditure should be used to equalise local inequalities of wealth and income. If local people had to raise all the resources for local services, then poor areas would raise small amounts of money compared to rich areas, and hence their services would be worse.

3)  We cannot have a National Heath Service constructed around localism: for a drug to be available in one area and not another would be deeply unpopular.

4)  National government is also expected to step in and intervene if standards of service in a local area fall below certain expected levels.

In conclusion, any party aspiring to national government must develop both national and local policy and practice alongside each other.  It must strike a balance between social justice at the national level and the demands of localism – and the exact weighting of this balance will vary for different services.