ALL the talk, after that shock election result, is of two nations drifting apart - but I think the new political map reveals a country divided into four.

And the bad news for the North is that it is the only one of those four parts without a powerful voice in the new Government, with real cause to be nervous for the future.

Let’s take the country from the bottom. The map shows London with more red than before, after Labour grabbed several – but not enough – seats in the capital, from both Conservative and Liberal Democrats.

This is now Labour’s reliable heartland, it seems, with young, liberal voters – many born abroad – who rejected the Conservative warning to be scared of Ed Miliband and the SNP.

Of course, whoever London elects, its future is rosy as the most economically dynamic part of the country which will continue to gobble up the lion’s share of investment spending.

Around London is our ‘second nation’ – the Home Counties and Middle England which, in the Daily Mail’s words, “voted for sanity” and delivered victory for David Cameron.

The map shows a near-unbroken sea of blue, as Labour shrank back further and the Liberal Democrats were mercilessly eaten alive on its western fringes.

And Middle England will be rewarded, of course, with the lifting of the tax threshold for high-earners, low property taxes and commuter rail fares into London held down.

Looking to the North, there’s Scotland of course – now virtually a one-party state with its SNP hordes who are champing at the bit to win yet more powers for Holyrood.

The prime minister is keen to build bridges, already promising to fast-track the devolution of income tax, air passenger duty and some welfare powers, including the ability to axe the ‘bedroom tax’.

And Scotland will keep the Barnett Formula, of course – much-high public spending, which means it will escape the even-harsher cuts about to hit the North.

Ah yes, the North, the final part of my political jigsaw, which is still a huge red blob, despite Labour’s dismal failure to nibble away blue bits at the southern edges.

For so many years, we all said the Conservatives could not win a majority without winning seats in the North….yet now they have.

In the days since, Mr Cameron has played a blinder, talking ‘One Nation’, making Stockton his first visit and picking two Teessiders – Greg Clark and James Wharton, the Stockton South MP – to run local government.

But it is laughable to suggest Mr Wharton is in charge of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’, when those decisions are made by George Osborne, who holds the purse strings.

And the reality is a Cabinet where just one member (Mr Osborne) has a Northern seat….alongside 16 from London and the South.

Unless North-East leaders cave in and accept the Chancellor’s demand for a ‘metro mayor’, there will be no meaningful devolution, in stark contrast to Scotland.

Meanwhile, £12bn of welfare cuts will hit the North hardest, as – on past evidence – will looming 20 per cent-plus cuts to local council funding.

No-one suggests it’s all doom-and-gloom. A survey this week found business activity highest in the North-East.

But it’s undeniable - there’s a lot to be nervous about.