The Essex areas whose population are among the country's 'most English'

For many people, St George's Day is an annual celebration of all things English. It's the perfect time to have a roast dinner, talk about the weather and join a queue somewhere.

As England marks St George's Day on Tuesday (April 23), government statistics have identified the local neighbourhoods with the strongest 'English' identity - and four of them are in Essex. Fewer than one in six people (14 per cent) across the country identify as 'English only'.

In some urban areas, fewer than one in 20 residents say they feel exclusively English. That's in stark contrast to Wales, where more than half of people identified as being ‘Welsh only’ in the 2021 Census.

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When it comes to national identity, people living in England are far more likely to regard themselves as a mix of British and English, the figures show. Areas with the strongest English-only identity include two neighbourhoods in Essex: Holland-on-Sea and Canvey Island Newlands.

But it might make you put down that stereotypical English cup of tea to know that they are all beaten by an area of Wales - Broughton & Saltney, which is just over the Welsh side of the border in the county of Flintshire. Of just under 12,000 residents living there, 4,500 of them - 38.9%, or about two in five - identify solely as English. You can find out how many people identify as being English-only in the area where you live using our interactive map.

St George has been the patron saint of England since 1350 and one thing he shares with many modern-day Englishmen is that he wouldn’t have identified as English-only either. Although little is known about St George’s life, he is thought to have been born in an area of the Roman Empire which is now part of Turkey and died in Palestine on 23rd April in AD 303.

The areas with the highest proportion of people who identify as English only are:

• Broughton & Saltney, Flintshire, Wales (38.9%)

• Holland-on-Sea, Tendring (34.6%)

• Canvey Island Newlands, Castle Point (32.6%)

• Kinmel Bay & Towyn, Conwy, Wales (31.8%)

• Sutton-on-Sea, East Lindsey (31.7%)

• Sedgley West, Dudley (31.2%)

• Clacton North, Tendring (30.7%)

• Jaywick & St Osyth, Tendring (29.9%)

• Lower Gornal & The Straits, Dudley (29.8%)

• Hunstanton, King's Lynn and West Norfolk (29.7%)

The areas with the lowest proportion of people who identify as English are:

• Sparkhill North, Birmingham (0.8%)

• Sparkbrook South, Birmingham (1.1%)

• Southall Green East, Ealing (1.1%)

• Small Heath Park, Birmingham (1.2%)

• Southall West, Ealing (1.2%)

• Spinney Hill Road, Leicester (1.2%)

• Upton Park, Newham (1.3%)

• Southall Green West, Ealing (1.3%)

• Crown Hills, Leicester (1.4%)

• St Matthews & Highfields North, Leicester (1.4%)

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