UK's Christian population highest in northwest

St Mary's Church, Knowsley

"This is a Christian country," David Cameron declared valiantly, during an Easter speech in 2015. Not, perhaps, for much longer. In 2001 40.1m Britons declared themselves Christian on the census form; in 2011, the figure was just 36.1m, or 59% of the population. Yet some places are resisting the tide of godlessness.

According to a new analysis* of census data, Britain's bastions of Christianity tend to be urban ("but not too urban") and mostly in north-west England. In Knowsley, an otherwise unremarkable borough on the outskirts of Liverpool, four out of five people were self-professed Christians in 2011; in nearby Chorley, Halton and West Lancashire, about three out of four were.

Lord Alton has published the following article from the Economist on his blog today. To read on see:

www.economist.com/news/britain/21695531-britains-christians-are-clustered-north-west-may-change-northward-christian?force=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/northwardchristiansoldiers