English patriotism is one of the overlooked reasons for UKIP’s rise
From our UK edition
What can account for UKIP’s remarkable surge in support in these elections? The conventional wisdom is that UKIP is now the ‘go to’ party for protest voters. Angry over Europe and immigration? Vote UKIP. Fear for your job and the future of the economy? Vote UKIP. Feel the main parties are ‘all the same’, run by metropolitan elites who don’t know how ordinary people live? Vote UKIP. There is doubtless something in all of the above, but there is perhaps another explanation – overlooked until now - for UKIP’s rise: the growing tide of English patriotism. Earlier in the year, figures from the 2011 census showed there had been a dramatic strengthening of English national identity in the last decade.
