British pride has sharply declined, survey reveals
September 2024 - Culture and Heritage
British pride has sharply declined: 
A recent survey by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has highlighted a significant decline in national pride in Britain. Only 64% of Britons now express pride in the country’s history, a 22% decrease compared to 10 years ago (86% in 2013). Interestingly, the people of Britain appear to be prouder of the nation’s success in arts, literature and sport than they are of its historical achievements. The percentage of Britons ‘proud’ or ‘very proud’ of British arts and literature achievements was 79% followed closely by was 77% for British sports.
The survey by NatCen, published on 3rd Sept, ran across September and October 2023, involving 5,600 people across the UK. Participants were asked questions about national identity, national pride and were also asked to their opinions on how they define someone to be ‘truly British’. The survey has been running annually since 1983, making the latest publications the 41st wave released.
A decrease in democratic pride was also evident in the research, with just 53% expressing pride in the way Britain’s democracy works, down 16% since 2013 (69%). In addition, just under half (49%) of Britons say they would rather be a citizen of Britain than of anywhere else - a decrease of 13% compared to 10 years ago (62% in 2013). Economic achievements received the lowest level of pride, with only 45% of respondents expressing pride in this area.
The research also highlighted how British identify is now less regarded as a matter of family background. The percentage of people who believe that being born in Britain is essential to being "truly British" has dropped significantly from 74% in 2013 to 55% today. Similarly, the importance of having British ancestry to be deemed ‘British’ has also decreased from 51% to 39%.
There were some interesting contrasts in the findings when it came to Brexit support. Almost 8 out of 10 (78%) of those who said they support Brexit felt being born in Britain is important to being ‘truly British’, compared with just 45% of those who favoured EU membership.
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