The next set of key results from the 2021 census covers identity.
That includes national identity, ethnicity and – for the first time – official statistics on sexual orientation.
A reminder of the ground rules:
- The figures will be counted at council level (the 22 unitary authorities). There are probably more interesting results at a local level/ward level, but that’s not for me to do. You can look these up yourselves using the ONS’s interactive map.
- Percentages are rounded to the nearest decimal place and changes are percentage point increases or decreases (unless stated otherwise).
- 2021 will be compared to both the 2011 and 2001 censuses unless comparable figures are unavailable (i.e. things were counted differently in 2021 compared to previous years) or I couldn’t find the data for whatever reason. In some instances, there won’t be a comparison because it’s a new category.
- Any conclusions are educated guesses rather than hard/academically rigorous conclusions.
What’s the overall national picture?
The proportion of people identifying as British & something else has increased (+2.8%) – less so British-only (+1.8%).
A little under 1-in-5 people in Wales identify exclusively as British, compared to more than half who identify as exclusively Welsh. This increases to over a quarter (28.4%) who have at least some British identity (i.e. Welsh & British).
What are the standout findings for individual councils?
It’s no surprise that areas with high levels of Welsh-only identity (such as the Valleys and Carmarthenshire) have lower levels of British-only identity.
British identity – exclusive or joint – has increased in areas you might expect it to anyway including Powys (+4.5% at least some British identity), Monmouthshire (+4.3%) and Conwy (+4.4%).
Everywhere has seen at least some increase in British identity, but there’s been little growth in Cardiff (+1.4%) and the northwest compared to the rest of the country.
What may be the reasons behind the changes (if applicable)?
As mentioned earlier, between 2-4% of people moved away from identifying exclusively with a home nation to British – but that doesn’t make all that much of a difference.
It’s the same reasons: an anti-devolution/independence backlash, increased patriotism attached to Brexit or cross-border cultural ties making people feel part of the whole as well as part of their immediate/resident home nation.
Are there any public policy implications?
It suggests that British national identity continues to be fairly soft in Wales.
We’ve had Brexit, a backlash against devolution, culture wars and – at the time of the census – the death of a senior member of the royal family and it’s not led to a massive surge in Britishness. If anything the increase has been far lower than I would’ve otherwise expected.
“Britishness” (and to an extent, Unionism) may be more of an appeal to the head than the heart. Anyone who wants to protect the Union should have reform high up the agenda because it’s quite clear that the majority of people in Wales may see it as a multi-national union with flexible identities, not a rigid, fixed, all-encompassing “Britishness”.
The independence movement needs to present its own vision of “Britishness” too as a quarter of the population is a significant minority. Even I feel “British” to an extent and it’s not as if we’re going to cleave ourselves away from the rest of the island if we became independent.
