UKIP, immigration and national identity in England

Eric Kaufmann,Birkbeck College, University of London

e.kaufmann@bbk.ac.uk; twitter: @epkaufm; web: sneps.net

For RSA – ESRC – U. Manchester symposium on 'Individual Interests and Collective Values: Increasing cooperative behaviour

and constructive communication

UKIP: the importance of White British ethnicity

UKIP and the White Working Class

UKIP and Englishness0

2040

60U

KIP

% o

f Wh

ite V

otes

.5 .6 .7 .8 .9% of White British Identifying 'English Only' in Census

wards where UKIP stood candidates Fitted values

UKIP 2012 Local Election Vote and Englishness of Voters

England:84% of Britain

Britain English ‘Only’ ethnic core:57% of England

White British: 77% of England

Other White British:Scots, Welsh, Irish, Ulster British

A New Britishness?

• Top-Down Britishness agenda difficult

• Complexity theory: nations as emergent

• Constructive Ambiguity• Bespoke Nationalism