English Pride

Or the lack thereof.

Today’s post references a short article from the BBC about some YouGov survey results that examine English respondents’ pride in being English.

The post uses numerous bar charts to examine the demographic and political splits of the results as well as to try and come to a sense of what defines “English”. But the thing that struck me the most? A map of the results.

London is the least county-like in the UK
London is the least county-like in the UK

The most obvious result is in the title: Londoners identify the least as being part of an English county. That sort of regional association firms up the further one travels from London. The exceptions, however, are still urban areas. There are pockets of that light yellow-ish colour to be found also in the areas of Birmingham, the UK’s second-largest city, and, to a lesser extent, Manchester. Then there are other areas around the bigger universities like Cambridge and Oxford.

It makes me wonder how a similar question would play out across the United States. How much to do you identify with being a Pennsylvanian, or an Illinoisan? A New Yorker? And then I would probably take it a step further as well as a step backward in this political climate. How much does one identify with their local community or city? Are you a Philadelphian? A Chicagoan? A New Yorker? And then do you identify more with a city/community or a state more than you do as an American? How much is today’s divisiveness stoking regionalism or tribalism?

Alas, I am not a surveyor nor do I own a company that does surveys. So these sorts of questions are likely to remain curiosities for me.

Credit for the piece goes to the BBC graphics department.

Author: Brendan Barry

I am a graphic designer who focuses on information design. My day job? Well, they asked me not to say. But to be clear, this blog is my something I do on my own time and does not represent the views of…my employers. I think what I can say is that given my interest in information design—be it in the shape of clear charts, maps, diagrams, or wayfinding systems—I am fortunate that my day job focuses on data visualisation. Outside of work, I try to stay busy with personal design work. Away from the world of design, I have become an amateur genealogist and family historian. You will sometimes see that area of work bleed into my posts.

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