Report

Religious diversity in UK parliamentary constituencies

Think tank: The Henry Jackson Society

Author(s): Dr Alan Mendoza; Dr Theo Zenou

June 23, 2024

This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society provides a topline summary of the latest data on religious diversity in Britain.

In April 2015, the Henry Jackson Society released a briefing about the presence of religious groups throughout the United Kingdom. Titled Religious Diversity in British Parliamentary Constituencies, it detailed the number and proportion of religious communities in every parliamentary constituency. (The data was taken from the 2011 census).

The briefing was published a month before the general election of May 2015. The aim was to give a picture of the religious dynamics underpinning British politics. “This research is vital for anyone considering the impact religious groups can have on political behaviour in the run up to the May 2015 general election and beyond,” wrote Dr Alan Mendoza, the briefing’s author and the Henry Jackson Society’s Executive Director.

Now, in time for the July 2024 general election, the Henry Jackson Society has once again examined religious diversity across parliamentary constituencies. In partnership with Electoral Calculus, we have created the following website: https://henryjacksonsociety.org/religiousdiversity/introduction.html The website features an interactive map of the UK, whereby users can discover the religious make-up of the country’s constituencies, regions and local government wards.

Among other things, they can see which faith group has the largest number of adherents at various levels. They can also find out which faith group is the largest minority—excluding Christianity and those of no religion—at the constituency, regional and ward level. The website, moreover, contains an interactive table of constituencies. It breaks down their religious diversity, and can be sorted by high or low levels of membership of specific religions. Accompanying the website is the present briefing, which provides a topline summary of the latest data on religious diversity in Britain. The goal of this project is to spotlight the potential impact of religious groups on British parliamentary elections, although given the data is available for regional and local government ward level as well, it will also have applicability in more localised contests. In recent months this has become a major topic of discussion—and speculation—in the press.