The UK governance model is afflicted by a toxic, chronic condition: hyper-centralisation. This is not merely an accident of history but the deliberate, sustained effort of an overarching political class convinced of its own superior knowledge.
Some counties, like Yorkshire, possess the identity, culture, and critical mass to stand as a region in its own right, with a distinct economic engine and a population larger than Scotland. Other counties would be at liberty to form clusters, with the consent of their populations, to create new county regions with a shared identity and governance.