Anxiety about immigration and cultural change is closely linked to how people view British identity and Christianity’s place in national life, according to a new report by the religion and society think tank Theos.
The research found that these concerns extend beyond those it identifies as closest to “Christian nationalists”, with some people who reject a Christian national identity also expressing unease about immigration.
However, concern was strongest among those most attached to Britain’s Christian identity, who were called 'Identity Integrationists' in the report and accounted for 11% of the sample. A majority of this group (83%) were very concerned about immigration levels, while 70% said they felt like strangers in their own country.
Written by Dr Nick Spencer and Dr Yinxuan Huang, "Beyond 'Christian nationalism': Measuring attitudes to Christianity and Britishness today" draws on a survey of 1,765 UK adults conducted by research agency RED C in April 2026.
In addition to Identity Integrationists, the report identifies four other groups with differing views about the relationship between Christianity and Britishness.
Identity Integrationists see Christianity as fundamental to Britishness and want to defend the country’s Christian heritage against perceived threats.
Within this group, 85% are very concerned about the number of asylum seekers, 67% about the number of Muslims in Britain, and 54% about a lack of integration among migrant communities.
“This is clearly the most anxious of all the groups,” the report says.
Their concerns are accompanied by a wider sense of national decline. Some 91% of Identity Integrationists believe Britain is in a state of moral decay, while 97% say traditional family values have been lost. Similarly 80% of this group agree that “Europe is no longer confident about what it stands for”.
Yet this dissatisfaction with the country does not necessarily reflect unhappiness with their own circumstances as half say they are generally satisfied with their lives, and 49% feel belonging and support within their local community.
The authors describe them as "a deeply anxious group, exhibiting more and stronger social concerns than any other group", and recommend conversations as a starting point to establish some of the reasons for their concerns.
“What is it that bothers them so much about the state of Britain today? How legitimate or well-grounded are those concerns?” they ask.
The findings also show that concerns about immigration are shared by people with different views about religion.
Cultural Separatists, a largely non-religious group accounting for 16% of the sample, want to keep Christianity separate from British national identity but they are less accepting of immigration and cultural change than Committed Separatists - those who do not want Christianity to be part of Britishness but also do not have a particularly strong sense of British national identity.
Some 62% of Cultural Separatists believe immigration makes life harder for people already in Britain. The same proportion would be unhappy about temporary accommodation for asylum seekers opening in their local area. Among Committed Separatists, who represent 34% of those surveyed and are generally more accepting of immigration and a changing Britain, the figures fall to 17% and 18% respectively.
Similarly, among Cultural Separatists, 70% see a need to send illegal migrants back to their own country, falling to 29% among Committed Separatists.
Concerns are also evident among Values Integrationists, who account for 26% of the sample. They generally reject the idea that someone must be Christian to be British, but believe Christianity has positively shaped the country’s values, culture and institutions, and want that to be recognised and protected.
Some 41% of Values Integrationists are very concerned about immigration levels, and 45% about asylum seeker numbers.
However, many distinguish immigration itself from the way it is managed. Some 76% agree that immigration is fine in principle but believe that the system is overwhelmed, a view shared by 71% of Cultural Separatists.
The report says Values Integrationists want to defend Britain against perceived external threats but they are "not driven to do so by feeling particularly isolated, forgotten, or socially disenfranchised".
“They are more likely to think that the country is working for them, more likely to feel that Britain’s political and institutional settlement is something that is worth preserving, and also more likely to feel that Christianity is part of that package,” the authors write.
Belief Integrationists account for 13% of the sample and have the highest levels of Christian practice.
The authors distinguish this group’s desire to promote Christian faith from the stronger emphasis on preserving national heritage that is seen among Identity Integrationists.
“Belief Integrationists hold strong integrationist views because, for the most part, they want to promote Christianity rather than preserve it,” they write.
Belief Integrationists also express concerns about immigration, although these are less pronounced than among Identity Integrationists - some 54% of Belief Integrationists are very concerned about immigration levels, and 50% about the number of asylum seekers.
The research also highlights widespread agreement with the claim that Europe’s white population is deliberately being replaced by migrants from Muslim countries - also known as the Great Replacement Theory.
Some 37% agree with this theory, rising to two thirds of Belief Integrationists and 82% of Identity Integrationists.
The report, which describes the claim as “in effect, a racist conspiracy theory”, says the levels of support are "astonishingly high", and finds its popularity among groups favouring a closer relationship between Christianity and the nation as “particularly alarming”.
Attachment to Christian national identity is not necessarily matched by regular religious practice, though. Only 13% of Identity Integrationists attend church weekly, compared with 31% of Belief Integrationists.
Across the survey as a whole, 17% agree that someone must be Christian to be “truly British”, while just 1% select Christianity as the single most important factor in Britishness.
The authors caution against using “Christian nationalism” as a blanket description for the different ways people connect faith, culture and national belonging.
They also say that based on current data, it is hard to tell whether “Christian nationalism” is actually increasing.
The report concludes that “'Christian nationalism' is not really a cohesive movement but part of a shifting landscape of different attitudes to the right relationship between Christianity (and religion more general) and national identity”.
