Leicester is the tenth largest city in England, and the first, it is said, in which the English natives have been tipped over into minority status (though that is not officially confirmed). It is also the burial place of “the last English king”, and of the arising of the first English Community Group.

The group was formed last year with the help and guidance of the English charity, The Steadfast Trust. Its first significant project has been a poll of local opinion in areas like Braunstone where there is a high proportion of English people resident. Some 5,000 questionnaires were sent out, and 112 were returned completed. That’s a 2.24% response rate. Now, that’s not a high rate, and probably doesn’t exceed the average vote in the city (these days) for the BNP. But if one doesn’t pay too much heed to the number, there is some pretty startling stuff here.

The question, of course, is how far from representativeness the results are for the English of Leicester. A YouGov study conducted in 2006 showed that 55% of respondees agreed with BNP policies when the name of the party was not attached to them, falling to 49% when it was. So I wouldn’t write it off merely as an exercise in assorting the BNP supporters from the good folk of Leicester.

Here, anyway, are the survey results.

Question 1: Do you believe that Leicester City Council helps with, respects and celebrates English cultural events as positively as other cultural celebrations such as Diwali, Caribbean Carnival and Eid?

Yes 8 (7.1%)

No 100 (89.3%)

Don’t know 4 (3.6%)

Question 2: Do you feel that more should be done in schools for English children, in terms of cultural events and educational activities in order that they should have a positive view of their own heritage and culture?

Yes 104 (92.8%)

No 4 (3.6%)

Don’t know 4 (3.6%)

Question 3: Do you consider Leicester one day having a non-English majority population a positive step for the English community?

Yes 21 (18.7%)

No 81 (72.3%)

Don’t know 10 (9%)

Question 4: Do you believe that any form of ‘positive discrimination’ in favour of ethnic minority groups is fair on the English community?

Yes 9 (8%)

No 93 (83%)

Don’t know 10 (9%)

Question 5: Are you aware that the English are recognised in law as a distinct community in exactly the same way as the Afro-Caribbean, Indian and Pakistani communities and that because of this we are also protected from unlawful discrimination by the Equalities Act?

Yes 28 (25%)

No 74 (66%)

Don’t know 10 (9%)

Question 6: Do you think that the English community are as informed about their rights under the Equalities Act and are encouraged to recognise discrimination against them as much as members of other ethnic minority communities?

Yes 6 (5.3%)

No 101 (90.2%)

Don’t know 5 (4.5%)

Question 7: There are many community groups that exist to promote the welfare and address the concerns of members of their particular community (Afro-Caribbean, Pakistani, Indian, Polish, Somali, etc). Do you believe there should be one for the English community?

Yes 103 (92%)

No 2 (1.8%)

Don’t know 7 (6.2%)

Question 8: How do you feel towards the considerable ethnic diversity of Leicester city?

Since this was a multiple choice question respondents could tick as many words that they felt described their feelings as they wanted. From the 112 respondents there were 307 responses to this question with most ticking more two and often three responses.

Happy 15 (4.9%)

Angry 41 (13.4%)

Proud 10 (3.2%)

Isolated 31 (10.1%)

Powerless 69 (22.5%)

Threatened 53 (17.3%)

Enriched 11 (3.6%)

Sad 35 (11.4%)

Safe 8 (2.6%)

Deprived 34 (11%)

The largest response to this question was the feeling of powerlessness, which received 22.5% of the responses, followed by the response of feeling threatened (17.3%), feeling angry (13.4%) and a response of feeling sad (at 11.4% ), and then feeling deprived (11%).

Question 9: Do you believe that there is a group/organisation that specifically promotes the interests and seeks to address the concerns of the English community in Leicester city?

Yes 8 (7.1%)

No 86 (76.8%)

Don’t know 18 (16.1%)

Those who expressed a positive answer to this question stated the English Defence League, National Front or the English Community Group as groups representing local English concerns.

Question 10: Would you like the ECG(L) to establish itself for the English community and as an organisation where the English people of Leicester can turn to for support?

Yes 100 (89.3%)

No 3 (2.7%)

Don’t know 9 (8%)