Two-thirds of Anglicans voted for Brexit, a much higher proportion than in the country as a whole. Greg Smith (William Temple Foundation) and Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University) look at the reasons for the disparity and note the divergence between the beliefs of UK evangelicals - including the Archbishop of Canterbury - and 'normal' Anglicans

Smith, Greg

Woodhead, Linda

LSE Research Online

How	Anglicans	tipped	the	Brexit	voteTwo-thirds	of	Anglicans	voted	for	Brexit,	a	much	higher	proportion	than	in	thecountry	as	a	whole.	Greg	Smith	(William	Temple	Foundation)	and	LindaWoodhead	(Lancaster	University)	look	at	the	reasons	for	the	disparity	andnote	the	divergence	between	the	beliefs	of	UK	evangelicals	–	including	theArchbishop	of	Canterbury	–	and	‘normal’	Anglicans.The	Archbishop	of	Canterbury,	Justin	Welby,	has	been	busy	again	attacking	themarkets	and	calling	for	more	welfare.	His	views	are	at	variance	with	those	of	ordinary	Anglicans,	two-thirds	ofwhom	think	that	welfare	spending	is	too	high.Research	we	have	just	published	reveals	an	equally	significant	‘values	gap’	when	it	comes	to	the	EU.	‘In	the	runup	to	the	referendum	of	2016	Welby	was	against	Brexit	but	in	the	vote	Anglicans	strongly	supported	it.	Our	exitpoll	of	3,242	UK	adults,	commissioned	by	Linda	Woodhead	immediately	after	the	referendum,	shows	that	exactlytwo-thirds	(66%)	of	the	Anglicans	in	England	who	cast	a	vote,	voted	to	leave	the	EU.	That’s	higher	than	for	Englandas	a	whole,	where	just	over	half	of	voters	(53%)	chose	Leave.Stained	glass	at	St	Mary’s	Church,	Godmanchester.	Photo:	Steve	Day	via	a	CC-BY-NC-SA	2.0licenceAnglicans	are	more	enthusiastically	pro-Brexit	than	affiliates	of	other	major	religions.	In	England,	55%	of	Catholicsvoted	Leave,	45%	Remain.	Amongst	other	non-Christian	faiths	–	though	sample	sizes	are	small	–	the	tendency	wasto	favour	Remain	over	Leave.	The	increasingly	large	group	who	report	‘no	religion’	also	favoured	Remain:	53%Remain,	47%	Leave.Anglican	support	for	Brexit	is	so	high	that	it’s	natural	to	think	that	the	fact	of	being	Church	of	England	maybe	disguising	other	factors.	For	example,	we	know	that	Anglicans	tend	to	be	older	than	the	population	as	a	whole,and	that	older	people	were	more	likely	to	vote	Leave.	We	tested	this	by	correcting	for	all	the	factors	that	might	haveinfluenced	,	including	age,	region	of	residence,	gender,	and	social	class.	This	shows	that	age	and	social	class	domake	a	difference.	Nevertheless,	even	when	all	these	factors	are	corrected	for,	the	‘Anglican	effect’	remains.	Table1	shows	this	most	clearly.Table	1:	Percentage	of	voters	voting	Leave:	All	England,	CofE,	None	(No	Religion)	 All CofE NoneAll 53 66 47LSE Brexit: How Anglicans tipped the Brexit vote Page 1 of 2		Date originally posted: 2018-09-20Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2018/09/20/how-anglicans-tipped-the-brexit-vote/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/Female 57 68 50Male 50 64 44ABC1 46 63 37C2DE 64 71 63Under	40 37 49 3540-59 57 66 51Over	60 66 72 61London 41 57 35	 All CofE None	Of	course,	being	‘Anglican’	for	these	purposes	is	purely	a	matter	of	stated	self-definition	and	sense	of	belonging.	Itmay	be	that	active	churchgoers	–	who	are	only	a	small	minority	amongst	Anglicans	–	take	a	different	view,	closer	tothat	of	the	Archbishop.Earlier	surveys	carried	out	by	Woodhead	in	2013	allow	us	to	test	this	hypothesis,	because	they	asked	about	votingintention	in	a	referendum	on	the	EU,	as	well	as	frequency	of	church	attendance.	They	show	that	Anglicans	who	go	tochurch	regularly	(at	least	once	a	month)	are	indeed	more	likely	to	say	they	would	vote	Remain	–	but	they	are	still	ina	minority.	The	majority	of	Anglicans	in	England,	churchgoing	or	not,	favour	Brexit.These	earlier	polls	also	shed	some	light	on	why	Anglicans	are	so	pro-Brexit,	despite	what	theirleaders	tell	them.	They	show	that	Anglicans	are	generally	centre-right	in	politics	but	liberal	on	matters	of	personalmorality.	Newspapers	like	the	Telegraph	or	Daily	Mail	reflect	their	views.	They	take	a	generally	negative	view	of	theEU,	with	a	quarter	saying	they	can	see	no	benefit	at	all	in	being	a	member.	What	they	object	to	most	are	‘EU	rulesand	regulations’,	followed	by	weak	borders	and	unchecked	immigration,	and	taking	power	from	Parliament.	Over	halfobject	to	every	one	of	these	things.	After	that	come	economic	objections.In	other	words,	most	Anglicans	take	a	positive	view	of	English	culture	and	ethnicity,	and	regard	the	EU	as	a	threat	totheir	heritage,	values,	identity	and	parliamentary	sovereignty.	These	concerns,	which	are	sometimes	lumped	togetheras	‘nativist’	are	greater	even	than	their	economic	ones.By	contrast,	none	of	these	concerns	figure	highly	in	the	statements	of	the	Archbishops.Greg	Smith’s	surveys	of	evangelical	opinion	in	the	UK	suggest	an	interesting	reason	why.	He	finds	that	evangelicalChristians	inthe	differ	significantly	from	their	counterparts	in	the	US.	Both	groups	are	predominantly	white,	but	in	theUK	evangelicals	are	generally	of	much	higher	socio-economic	status	and	have	a	more	global,	cosmopolitan	outlook.In	the	US,	the	evangelical	vote	went	overwhelmingly	to	Trump,	in	the	UK,	evangelicals	were	more	likely	to	Remainthan	Leave.As	an	evangelical,	Justin	Welby’s	views	reflect	the	views	of	British	evangelicalism	more	generally.	Evangelicalism	isincreasingly	influential	amongst	bishops	and	senior	clergy	in	the	Church	of	England,	but	appeals	to	only	a	minorityof	the	laity.Over	time,	as	older,	more	traditional	Anglicans	die	out	and	the	CofE	continues	its	precipitous	decline,	that	balancemay	change.	In	the	process	the	CofE	from	a	moderate	religion	of	the	people	to	a	more	sectarian	religion	for	anevangelical	minority.	In	that	case,	the	views	of		Church	leaders	will,	eventually,	prevail	over	those	of	laity.This	post	represents	the	views	of	the	author	and	not	those	of	the	Brexit	blog,	nor	the	LSE.Linda	Woodhead	is	a	Professor	of	Politics,	Philosophy	and	Religion	at	Lancaster	University.Greg	Smith	is	an	Associate	Research	Fellow	at	the	William	Temple	Foundation.LSE Brexit: How Anglicans tipped the Brexit vote Page 2 of 2		Date originally posted: 2018-09-20Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2018/09/20/how-anglicans-tipped-the-brexit-vote/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/

How Anglicans tipped the Brexit vote

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How Anglicans tipped the Brexit vote

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