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Londoners identify more with their city than with Britain, England, or Europe

Londoners identify more strongly with their home city than with any other national or European identity, according to a survey by researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

Published on:
Brexit protest
Brexit protest

The survey asked people to consider the extent to which they identify as British, English, a Londoner, or European.

On an eleven-point scale, from 0 to 11, Londoner came top (an average of 7.7), followed by British (7.4), English (6.6), with European ranked bottom (4.9). These overall averages hide wide variations between different types of people. Almost half (46 per cent) of respondents put Londoner as their primary identity, with 25 per cent choosing European as their primary identity. British is put first by 17 per cent, and English by 12 per cent.

The findings are from the latest instalment of the Polling London project by the Mile End Institute at QMUL with fieldwork by YouGov.

Remainers and Leavers

Those who voted to Leave the EU are much less likely to see themselves as European (an average of 2.5 compared to 6.6 for Remainers) but are also more likely to see themselves as English (an average of 7.5 compared to 6.1 for Remainers)

Dr Javier Sajuria of the Mile End Institute said: “London is a city of amazingly diverse communities and cultures, but it turns out that a strong sense of belonging to the city is something that most Londoners have in common, regardless of age, class or political views."

He added: "Most Londoners see themselves as having multiple identities, but they are certainly not Citizens of Nowhere given how strongly they identify with their city. It is interesting that views about a European identity are much more polarised than other identities. While a quarter of Londoners rank it their highest, a larger group put it at the bottom of their choices."

Fieldwork

Data: http://bit.ly/2g9pgpP

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,044 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 25 and 29 September 2017. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all London adults (aged 18+). YouGov is a member of the British Polling Council and abide by their rules.

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