Religious Diversity in British Parliamentary Constituencies

2015/05/04 Leave a comment

 Concentration and Dispersion.001For those interested, an incredibly detailed mapping of British religious minorities on the eve of the British election, with the sub-text of fear of British Muslims (like so many of the Henry Jackson publications). But the mapping and level of analysis is impressive (although I find the more simple approach in the above Canadian chart provides a better overview).

Christianity is the dominant religion in Great Britain. The 2011 census names five minority religions: Buddhism; Hinduism; Judaism; Islam; and, Sikhism. Together they are followed by 4,577,799 residents, or 7.5% of the population. Of these minority religions, Islam is the largest, which is followed by 4.5% of the national population. Islam’s share of the population is at least three percentage points larger than any of the remaining minority religions: Hinduism (1.4%); Sikhism (0.7%); Judaism (0.4%); and, Buddhism (0.4%).

The prevalence and relative following of the minority religions within Great Britain’s constituencies reflects this order, with the exception of Buddhism which appears more often as the largest minority religion within many more constituencies than its overall share of the population suggests. Islam is the minority religion with the most followers in four-fifths (503, or 80.0%) of Britain’s 632 constituencies. Buddhism comprises the largest minority religion in almost one in ten constituencies (54, or 8.5%). This is followed by Hinduism in 40 constituencies (6.3%), Sikhism in 27 (4.3%), Judaism in six (1.0%), and in the remaining two constituencies the largest minority religion is equally Buddhism and Islam, with the same number of followers.

Map 2 reflects the largest minority religion within constituencies, with each minority religion represented by a different colour and shaded to reflect the size of the population share. A threshold of 0.5% has been applied as a criterion for inclusion, with the remaining 165 constituencies left blank.9 Of the 467 constituencies which met the criterion, Islam is the largest minority religion in 396 (84.8%). This is followed by Hinduism in 36 seats (7.7%), Sikhism in 25 (5.4%), Judaism in six (1.3%), and Buddhism in four (0.9%).

Islam is the dominant minority religion among Great Britain’s constituencies. In the ten constituencies with the largest minority religion share of the population, Islam is both the largest minority religion and is followed by at least one third of the population. Within these constituencies, Islam is also the largest religion as well as the largest minority religion, with the exception of Blackburn, where the Christian share (45.8%) is nine percentage points larger than the Muslim share of 36.3%.

The two constituencies with the largest Muslim share of the population are Birmingham Hodge Hill, where more than half (63,417 of 121,678, or 52.1%) of residents identify as Muslim; and Bradford West, which has a 51.3% Muslim share of the population (58,872 of 114,761). They are currently being challenged by the Respect Party and are held by the Respect Party respectively. This is followed by: Birmingham Hall Green (46.6% Muslim residents); East Ham (37.4%); Bradford East (36.9%); Blackburn (36.3%); Bethnal Green & Bow (35.4%); Birmingham Ladywood (35.2%); Ilford South (34.9%); and, Poplar and Limehouse (33.6%). Regionally, four of these ten constituencies are located in London, three in the West Midlands, two in Yorkshire and The Humber, and one in the North West.

No other minority religion makes up a third of the population in any constituency. There are, however, two constituencies where the Hindu share of the population is 32.0%: Brent North in London, where Hindus comprise 32.0%, and the Christian share is almost one percentage point (0.7%) larger; and, Leicester East in the East Midlands, where Hindus are the largest religious group, comprising 31.8%, and the Christian share is lower at 24.2%.

The largest Sikh share in Great Britain is in Ealing, Southall and Feltham & Heston, both in London, comprising 21.6% and 13.1% respectively. The largest Jewish share is in Finchley & Golders Green and Hendon, both in London, comprising 21.1% and 17.0% respectively. The largest Buddhist share is 3.1% in Aldershot, in the South East.

Religious Diversity in British Parliamentary Constituencies

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Unknown's avatarAbout Andrew
Andrew blogs and tweets public policy issues, particularly the relationship between the political and bureaucratic levels, citizenship and multiculturalism. His latest book, Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias, recounts his experience as a senior public servant in this area.

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