Faith plays a significant part in many people’s lives, so it stands to reason that it will play a big role in their political choices too.  Nonetheless, there has never really been a sense that the Brexit vote was one driven by religious considerations.

Research from the University of Exeter suggests that may not be entirely the case, with religion playing a significant role in the votes cast by nearly half of the electorate.

The study, which gathered data from the British Election Study and the Understanding Society survey, found that Anglicans were more likely to support leaving, with Catholics more inclined to remain in the EU.

Religious support

The authors believe their study is the most detailed yet of the role religion played in support for EU membership, and it formed the basis of a new book, called Religion and Euroscepticism in Brexit Britain, which examines the way religion influenced the views on EU membership of people since the UK joined in 1973 until leaving in 2016.

“A typical Catholic would vote to remain in the European Union,” the authors explain. “Catholics are used to the idea of a cross-national authority as in the Pope and the Vatican, so for them, the idea of being governed by an international body like the EU is quite normal.”

“Anglican history, meanwhile, is defined by trying to remain separate from the European superblock, and to do that you need a strong independent nation state. For them, anything that challenges it isn’t going to be something they’re a fan of.”

The data revealed that 55% of Anglicans voted to leave the EU, with the authors arguing that membership of the Church of England perhaps fosters a greater attachment to national identity and English heritage.  Anglicans are also perhaps more likely to hold conservative views, which would again align them with the Leave cause.

By contrast, 61% of Catholics voted to Remain, with the authors suggesting that their faith is less tied to either English institutions or national identity.  It’s a finding that the authors believe underlines the important role religion plays in British politics, despite the perception that the country is more secular than, for instance, the United States.

For instance, they highlight the apparent collapse in Labour support among Catholics, with Christian groups of all denominations seemingly more and more likely to vote Conservative in upcoming elections.

“There is still a substantial ‘religious vote’ in British politics,” the researchers explain. “Our study shows the nature of a religious vote changes – with formerly strong ties between Labour and Roman Catholics, for example, weakening. The Conservatives, by contrast, have consolidated much support among Christians by growing their Protestant vote and adding Catholics to it.”