By CHRIS POLLARD, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 16:00 GMT, 30 December 2025 | Updated: 16:00 GMT, 30 December 2025

One in three people now believe 'Britishness' is something you must be born with, a poll found - up from less than one in five (19 per cent) two years ago. 

More than half (53 per cent) also think being born in Britain is an important part of being British - while a quarter of people surveyed said it was 'not important at all'.

The results are split between white and ethnic minority individuals, with more in the minority group believing that heritage, birthplace and ancestry are unimportant or totally inessential to being British.

The YouGov poll was carried out this month for the left-wing Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think-tank.

The findings are a reflection of the public attitudes towards Britain and being British.

Among the 2,370 adults asked, 91 per cent of white people said it was important to respect Britain's political institutions and laws - compared with 83 per cent of ethnic minorities.

In a reflection of Britain's increasingly secular makeup, just 17 per cent of people said being Christian was important to Britishness.

Overall, 51 per cent said it was not important to have British ancestry, though this rose to 76 per cent among the non-white people polled.

Public attitudes towards Britishness have shifted slightly over the last two years

Courtney Wright, 12, was banned from her school's culture day for wearing a Union Flag dress to celebrate being British

However, a high proportion of all people, totalling 76 per cent overall, said feeling British was an important part of being British.

In terms of national pride in Britain, there was a notable divide between old and young.

Among people aged 65-plus, 83 per cent said they were proud of Britain's history. However, only half as many people aged 18-24 said they were proud.

The same was true of pride in the Armed Forces - with 87 per cent of older people saying they were proud of those who risk their lives for the country, while just 42 per cent of youngsters said the same.

The political divide was also quite stark. While 87 per cent of Tory voters said they were proud of Britain's history, just 54 per cent of Labour supporters agreed. Meanwhile, 88 per cent of Tories were proud of the Armed Forces compared to 68 per cent of Labourites.

The survey also revealed that Nigel Farage's supporters have some of the most traditional views. More than a third (37 per cent) of Reform UK voters said they would be prouder of Britain if there were fewer people from minority ethnic backgrounds in a decade's time, and 10 per cent said it was important to have white skin to be a good British citizen.