Britons are prouder of their history, NHS and army than of the Royals

8 March 2012

While 2012 celebrates the Diamond Jubilee and London hosting the Olympics, it is history that makes people most proud to be British.

A survey commissioned by Channel 4 from Ipsos MORI found that more people (45%) are proud to be British due to the country's history than they are because of the Royal Family (28%). And more people cite the NHS (37%) and the armed forces (36%) as a source of pride than they do the Royals. British sports teams come in at a lowly 10%. Bringing up the bottom of the table is British business, with only 4%.

Overall, which two or three of the following, would you say makes you most proud to be British?

1.            Our history (45%)

2.            The NHS (37%)

3.            British Army / armed forces (36%)

4.            The Royal Family (28%)

5.            Our culture and arts (24%)

6.            Our system of democracy (22%)

7.            Having a free press / media (15%)

8.            British sports teams (10%)

9.            Our position in the world (5%)

10.         British business (4%)

Timed to coincide with, Make Bradford British, a documentary series exploring what it means to be British, the survey also found that a ‘good sense of humour' (45%) topped the poll when people were asked what are the best characteristics of British people, followed by friendly (34%) and tolerant to all sections of society (30%).

But while being funny may be the best British characteristic, of those surveyed, half (50%) said the worst was drinking too much. Ignorance of other cultures (33%) and complaining too much (23%) were also cited. And a fifth of respondents thought the worst characteristic was being lazy (20%).

Tea topped the poll not only as people's favourite drink (38%) but also what they thought was the country's national drink (65%) proving that we are a nation of tea lovers.

While fish and chips is seen as the national dish by four in ten Britons (41%) just one in ten (9%) say it is their favourite food. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding tops the poll as the nation's favourite dish (33%).

And while 15% enjoy a curry as their meal of choice, only 8% think it's the national dish.

 

Make Bradford British continues on Thursday 8 March at 9pm on Channel 4

 

Note to Editors
Make Bradford British is a major two-part series exploring what it means to be British. It brings together some of the city's residents - all British citizens, but from different races and backgrounds - to see if they can come up with a common notion of the thread that binds them all together; what it means to be British.

The series uses the Government's Life in the UK Test as a prism to explore British-ness, overcoming stereotypes and preconceptions to uncover the shared values and common ground in what it means to be British.

 

Technical Details
Ipsos MORI interviewed a nationally representative quota sample of 998 adults aged 15 and over across the Great Britain, interviews were conducted face-to-face between 27 January - 5 February 2012. Results have been weighted to the known GB adult population profile. An asterisk (*) indicates a finding of less than 0.5% but greater than zero. Where percentages do not add up to exactly 100% this is due to computer rounding, the exclusion of "don't knows" or to multiple answers. Results are based on all respondents unless otherwise stated.

Please click on the document below for more poll results.