7 out of 10 want St George's Day as bank holiday

Embargoed: 00:01h Tuesday 23 April 2013

Seven out of ten people living in England (73%) want St George's Day (today) to be a public holiday, according to new polling from the think tank IPPR and Cardiff and Edinburgh Universities. The think tank argues that the new polling shows Englishness is a growing political force and an identity that politicians can no longer ignore.

A new IPPR report, to be published this summer, argues that mainstream political parties need to embrace Englishness, take it seriously, and find new ways of giving it political expression. It argues that Englishness is not something to be feared or abandoned to those on the margins of right wing politics. The report says that the longer this debate is ignored, or worse, denied, the more likely we will see a backlash within England against the UK.

Most people living in England say they are 'equally English and British' (39%) but more than twice as many say they are 'more English than British' (20%) or 'English not British' (15%) than those who say they are 'more British than English' (10%) or 'British not English' (7%).

The most recent Census showed that 70% of the English population identified themselves as either solely English or English in combination with some other national identity (10 per cent), while just 29 per cent of respondents identified themselves as feeling any sense of British national identity.

Nick Pearce, IPPR Director, said:

"This new polling shows the continued emergence of an English identity that British political parties ignore at their peril. There is compelling evidence that English identity is becoming politicised: that is, the more strongly English a person feels the more likely they are to believe that current territorial arrangements treat England unfairly.

"The English are increasingly likely to support reforms which give England greater formal recognition in our political system. Those that choose to prioritise their English identity, and who feel most strongly about the case for reform, are an increasingly important constituency in English political life. Responding to this rising English sentiment would strengthen the United Kingdom, not weaken it."

Richard Wyn Jones, Professor of Politics at Cardiff University and co-author of the report said:

"Englishness has been kept at the margins of political debate. A cocktail of deepening cultural anxiety, rising economic insecurity and a growing disillusion with the political system has made the English Question something far more complex than simply a response to Scottish devolution and European integration."

New polling presented in the report shows:
o Seven out of ten people living in England (73%) want St George's Day (this Tuesday) to be a public holiday

o More people living in England say they feel 'very proud' to be English (46%), compared to those who say they feel 'very proud' to be British (38%) - although overall, a similar number say they feel proud of Britain and of England

o Seven out of ten people (72%) who identify as 'English not British' don't trust the UK Government to work in the English interest

But people living in England express stronger pride in seeing the Union Jack than they do when they see the St George's flag. Almost 8 out of ten (78%) say they are either 'very proud' or 'a bit proud' when they see the Union Jack, compared to 62% for the St George's flag. The report suggests that the strength of pride in the Union Jack might reflect the prominence attached to it during last summer's Olympics. The report nonetheless also argues that with a clear majority of English voter expressing pride in the St George's flag that it has become an accepted part of English national culture.

When asked which nationality they would like inscribed on their passports, 51% of people living in England said 'British' while 40% said 'English'. IPPR argues that this clearly demonstrates a strong commitment to Britain and British identity but when you consider that 'British' is what people already have inscribed on their passports, and is what they are used to, the number opting for changing to 'English' is significant.

Of those people living in England who 'strongly agree' that St. George's Day should become a public holiday (43% overall), UKIP supporters show the strongest support (with 60% strongly agreeing), then Conservative supports (47%), then Labour (44%), with Lib Dem supporters in England less likely to strongly agree than the national average (32%).

Notes to Editors

The Future of England Survey (FoES) 2012 is a joint initiative between IPPR and the Wales Governance Centre (Cardiff University) and the Institute of Governance (Edinburgh University). The FoES is the most comprehensive examination of how public attitudes within England are changing in respect of issues around national identity, nationhood and governance. The polling was carried out by YouGov: total sample size was 3,600 English adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 23rd - 28th November 2012. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all English adults (aged 18+).

IPPR will publish a major report based on the full findings of FoES 2012 later this summer.

For more on IPPR's recent work on the English Question, see: http://ippr.org/research-project/44/7115/english-questions

Contact

Richard Darlington, 07525 481 602, r.darlington@ippr.org

Tessa Evans, 07875 727 298, t.evans@ippr.org