Absoultely true. I was stationed in the UK for a brief period of time in the 80s - Thatcher's Golden Era. We recently went back, and I couldn't believe how much the country had transformed. London could easily be a city in in SW Asia. It makes Berkeley or the East Village or West Hollywood look tame. It's a completely different city and country.
The north has more "traditional" people, but these are also the same people who are the most rabidly socialist, at least economically.
That's the difference between the UK and the States, IMHO. Many of the areas of the UK that are traditional (like the Midwest in the US), are the most reliably socialist. This of course is antithetical to the US Midwest, where people are far more self-reliant. It's odd.
A better analogy would be the "traditionalist" folks in Michigan, western Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc. who STILL vote Dem election after election.
Labour's strongest areas in England proper are the old industrial/rust belt in the north, and parts of inner London. Scotland traditionally votes to the Left as does (to a slightly lesser extent this election) Wales.
It shouldn’t be that confusing...small ‘c’ conservative traditionalism is about keeping things the way they are/have been. Since the end of WWII, the UK has been a Socialist country. Traditional voters in the UK may want to stay out of the EU, keep out immigrants, etc., but they still want their socialist nanny state handouts.