As a Brit who grew up in Manchester, Keller’s impression fits my own. If I think about the sorts of roles that people on tv play, be they comedians or newscasters, people with Welsh/Northern/Scottish/Irish/Liverpuddlian/Mancunian/Yorkshire accents are rarely high status, only folks who have ‘British’ accents and you can’t really place them are high status (also Londoners). (And status is a strong proxy for class.)
I think it depends on the accent. There are plenty of high status/upper class people with national (Scottish, Welsh, Irish) or London/West Country accents—even pretty thick ones. On the other hand, a heavy Northern/Midlands accent is pretty indicative of a lower class background.
As a Brit who grew up in Manchester, Keller’s impression fits my own. If I think about the sorts of roles that people on tv play, be they comedians or newscasters, people with Welsh/Northern/Scottish/Irish/Liverpuddlian/Mancunian/Yorkshire accents are rarely high status, only folks who have ‘British’ accents and you can’t really place them are high status (also Londoners). (And status is a strong proxy for class.)
#Bikeshedding
I think it depends on the accent. There are plenty of high status/upper class people with national (Scottish, Welsh, Irish) or London/West Country accents—even pretty thick ones. On the other hand, a heavy Northern/Midlands accent is pretty indicative of a lower class background.