Fewer residents of Milton Keynes identify as Christian say census results

Fewer people in MK identify as Christian with more non-religious than a decade ago, census figures show.

Humanists UK ran campaigns in the lead up to the censuses in 2011 and 2021 encouraging non-religious people to select "no religion". The organisation said new figures should be a "wake-up call" for reconsidering the role of religion in society.

Data from the 2021 census shows 43% of people in MK selected Christianity as their religion, down from 53% in the survey a decade before.

About 38% selected "no religion" last year, up from 31% in 2011.

Of these, 119 people said they were agnostic, while 62 selected Atheism.

The area follows trends across England and Wales where 46% of the population described themselves as Christian in the recent census, down from 59% a decade earlier. It is the first time the proportion has dropped below half.

And the percentage of people saying they had no religion jumped from around a quarter (25%) in 2011 to over a third (37%) last year.

The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell said: "It’s not a great surprise that the census shows fewer people in this country identifying as Christian than in the past, but it still throws down a challenge to us not only to trust that God will build his kingdom on Earth but also to play our part in making Christ known."

Nationally, there were increases in the proportion of people describing themselves as Muslim, with 6.5% selecting the religion last year, up from 4.9% in the previous census. More people also identified as Hindu (1.5% in 2011 to 1.7% in 2021).

The figures show more people in Milton Keynes identify as Muslim, with 20,484 selecting the religion last year, up from 11,913 in 2011.

Additionally, 12,911 residents said they were Hindu in the survey, up from 6,918 10 years ago.

There were 1,404 Buddhists and 383 residents who selected Judaism.

Of the other options, 373 said they were pagans and 15 said they practice Heathenism.

The National Secular Society said the figures show aspects of society are “hopelessly outdated” and called for reform.

The society's chief Stephen Evans, said: “It’s official – we are no longer a Christian country.”