A study conducted by the thinktank Theos examined attitudes toward Christianity and British national identity among 1,765 adults surveyed in April 2026. The research identified five distinct demographic groups, with the group exhibiting views most aligned with Christian nationalism—termed “identity integrationists”—representing 11% of respondents and constituting the smallest category studied.
While 81% of identity integrationists identified as Christian, their religious observance differed markedly from other Christian-affiliated groups. Only 13% attended church weekly, compared to an 11% average across the overall survey population, and just 31% engaged in weekly prayer. The group demonstrated strong opposition to immigration and Islam, with only 19% affirming that Christian values require welcoming asylum seekers and 30% supporting equal treatment of religions in public life.
In contrast, a separate group labeled “belief integrationists”—comprising 13% of respondents—showed substantially higher levels of religious practice and greater openness to religious diversity. Within this cohort, 31% attended church weekly, 46% prayed weekly, and 48% agreed Christian values obligate support for asylum seekers. Notably, only 18% of belief integrationists considered defending Britain’s Christian cultural heritage essential to Christian identity, whereas 90% of the nationalist-aligned group held this view.
The findings prompted commentary from religious and academic perspectives. Church of England Bishop Arun Arora of Kirkstall distinguished between cultural Christianity and active discipleship, while theologian Rev Dr Helen Paynter emphasized that Christianity is inherently multicultural and multinational. Researcher Nick Spencer suggested that differences in religious practice and ethnic diversity between groups may partly explain their contrasting attitudes toward immigration and cultural change. The survey also found that more than half of Britons expressed unhappiness at the prospect of a local church becoming a mosque, and approximately 37% endorsed claims associated with “great replacement” theory.
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