The Politics of English Identity and Nationalism

Abstract

This chapter discusses the partial fusion of English identity with British identity, a fusion which has muted Englishness. The breakdown of the post-war consensus and the emergence of resentment politics have created space for a kind of English nationalism. We examine the ways in which English national identity has been presented (or ignored) in British political parties and the patterns of English identity found in recent research. We also discuss the possible effects of devolution and independence politics. There are some indications that UKIP has taken on an English resentment politics despite being a United Kingdom party. In the last sections of this chapter we discuss the Scotland referendum of 2014 and the UK general election of 2015. One key to the picture is the declining vote share gained by the two main parties and the weakening of the Labour Party’s traditional support.