The phrase "Middle England" is a socio-political and geographical term which originally indicated the central region of England, now almost always referred to as the "Midlands".
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 England, but also carries connotations of "Deep England". The BBC described the Kent town of Tunbridge Wells as the "spiritual home" of Middle England. The term is used by journalists to refer to the presumed views of mainstream English people, as opposed to minorities of all types (the rich or the poor, ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, the politically active, the intelligentsia, etc). In particular, it is increasingly used to denote the more right-wing views of those who are not in such minorities. Readers of The Daily Mail, for example, are often characterised as being from Middle England, as are members of the Countryside Alliance. Residents of Middle England are also sometimes referred to as the "silent majority" or "moral majority" in the British media.
Famous quotes containing the words middle and/or england:
“During the first formative centuries of its existence, Christianity was separated from and indeed antagonistic to the state, with which it only later became involved. From the lifetime of its founder, Islam was the state, and the identity of religion and government is indelibly stamped on the memories and awareness of the faithful from their own sacred writings, history, and experience.”
—Bernard Lewis, U.S. Middle Eastern specialist. Islam and the West, ch. 8, Oxford University Press (1993)
“In Canada an ordinary New England house would be mistaken for the château, and while every village here contains at least several gentlemen or “squires,” there is but one to a seigniory.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)