Bangers and cash: partisan bias in local government grant allocations across Great Britain

Ifan, Guto 2025. Bangers and cash: partisan bias in local government grant allocations across Great Britain. Regional Studies 59 (1) , 2372014. 10.1080/00343404.2024.2372014

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Abstract

This article examines partisan bias in local government grants across Great Britain, testing whether grant-awarding governments allocate more resources to local authorities controlled by their own party. The results suggest substantial pork-barrelling in grant allocations: the UK government allocates more in grant funding to English local authorities after they become politically aligned. A weaker partisan bias is also found in Wales. In Scotland, there is no evidence of such bias, a result which may be explained by a lesser reliance on more easily targetable specific grants, different electoral systems or the intergovernmental frameworks characterising local government grants in Scotland.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	0034-3404
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 July 2024
Date of Acceptance:	19 June 2024
Last Modified:	25 Jan 2026 02:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/170686

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