According to the book of Numbers in the Old Testament of the Bible, one year after Moses led the Israelites from Egypt during the Exodus, the number of men aged 20 years or older and available to serve in the Israelites' army totalled at 603,550 men. This census was conducted by Moses and the leaders of the 12 Tribes of Israel, with the clan of Judah contributing the largest number of men. However, only 11 of the 12 Tribes were counted, as the men of the Levites were tasked with protecting the tabernacle, which was the central mneeting and worshipping tent of the Israelitres' nomadic society during the Exodus.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aim of the project was to assess afresh the current number and frequency of people attending church of all denomonations in Scotland in 1994. A previous study had been undertaken in 1984 (held at the UKDA under SN 2554), and it was felt important to see how trends had changed. In particular, the principal investigators wanted to know how attendance had developed especially with regard to the age of those going to church. The survey also asked questions about the Bible version used in the church and whether churches had Bible study meetings.

Main Topics:

The data cover church attendance and congregation size between 1990-1994 for both adults and children, age and gender of congregation, type of area church is in, version of Bible used.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

To ascertain the numbers going to church regularly in Scotland, their trend, by geographical area and denomination, their age/sex, and the Bible version used in churches.
Main Topics:

Variables:
Denomination; geographical location; age and sex of church-goer (by groups); numbers of attenders, 1980 and 1984, morning and evening, and both; numbers of church members and adherents 1980 and 1984; numbers attending midweek church meetings; Bible version used by the Church on Sunday and at midweek; Sunday School attendance; number of ministers.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The English Church Census, 1989 was carried out on the 15th October 1989 by MARC Europe (this research body ceased to exist and Christian Research was formed out of it). The main aim of the survey was to get details of church attendance in England by denomination, churchmanship, county and environment.

A list was produced by MARC Europe of all Christian churches in England which totaled 38,607. These included Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches but not other groups such as Jehovah's Witness. In total 26,424 churches completed the census form, a response rate of 70 per cent.

The census set out to measure congregations not churches themselves. For the purposes of the survey a congregation was defined as a group comprising generally the same body of people, meeting at monthly intervals at least, for public Christian worship on a Sunday, and using the same premises week by week.

Main Topics:

The questionnaire included the following topics:

• denomination
• churchmanship
• county
• environment (nature of the community served by the church)
• age and gender of the congregation
• children's involvement with the church

MP Religion & Assisted Dying Dashboard

This data powers a dashboard presenting insights into the religious affiliations and Assisted Dying voting patterns of UK Members of Parliament (MPs). It can be found here:

👉 https://davidjeffery.shinyapps.io/mp-religion/.

Please cite all uses of the data.

📊 What is this dashboard?

This dashboard presents insights into the religious affiliations and Assisted Dying voting patterns of UK Members of Parliament. It combines publicly available data to support transparency and understanding of Parliament’s composition.

📂 Where does the data come from?

The data is compiled from publicly available parliamentary records and voting data. You can download it directly from the link in the header or view it in the Raw Data tab of the dashboard.

🙏 How is religion determined?

There are three steps to determining religion. An MP is classified as having a religion based on the following criteria:

1. If the MP is a member of a religiously based group, they are classified as a member of that religion.

2. If a member has publicly spoken about their religion, they are classified as a member of that religion.

3. Finally, the text an MP swore in on is used to help infer their religion.

These sources are used in order of priority. For example, Tim Farron is a member of Christians in Parliament and has spoken about his religious views. However, he did not take the oath on the Bible, but made a solemn affirmation on no text. Regardless, he is still classed as Christian.

🧾 Variable Reference

What do those variable names mean?

• Member ID – member_id – A unique numeric identifier for each MP provided by Parliament.

• Name – display_as – The full display name of the MP.

• Gender – gender – The MP’s gender.

• Party – party – The full political party name.

• Party (Simplified) – party_simple – A shortened or cleaned version of the party name.

• Religion – mp_final_relig – The MP’s classified religion based on multiple criteria outlined above.

• AD: 2nd Reading Vote – ass_suicide_2nd – The MP’s vote (Yes, No, Abstain) on the Assisted Dying Bill 2nd Reading.

• AD: 3rd Reading Vote – ass_suicide_3rd – The MP’s vote (Yes, No, Abstain) on the Assisted Dying Bill 3rd Reading.

• LGBT Status – lgbt – Whether the MP is publicly identified as LGBT (LGBT.MP).

• Ethnic Minority – ethnic_mp – Whether the MP identifies as an ethnic minority.

• Religious Group: Christian – relig_christian – MP belongs to a Christian group (1 = Yes).

• Religious Group: Muslim – relig_muslim – MP belongs to a Muslim group (1 = Yes).

• Religious Group: Jewish – relig_jewish – MP belongs to a Jewish group (1 = Yes).

• Religious Group: Sikh – relig_sikh – MP belongs to a Sikh group (1 = Yes).

• Oath Taken – mp_swear – Whether the MP took the Oath or made an Affirmation.

• Oath Book – mp_swear_book – The specific religious text (e.g., Bible, Quran) used when swearing in.

• Inferred Religion – mp_inferred_relig – The religion inferred from the swearing-in text.

• Election Outcome – elected – Whether the MP was re-elected in the most recent election.

• Majority – majority – The MP’s vote share margin.

• Constituency Type – constituency_type – Type: Borough or County.

• Claimant Rate – cen_claimant – % of constituents claiming unemployment benefits.

• % White (Census) – cen_eth_white – Proportion of white ethnicity in the constituency.

• % Christian – cen_rel_christian – Constituency Christian population from the Census.

• % Buddhist – cen_rel_buddhist – Constituency Buddhist population.

• % Hindu – cen_rel_hindu – Constituency Hindu population.

• % Jewish – cen_rel_jewish – Constituency Jewish population.

• % Muslim – cen_rel_muslim – Constituency Muslim population.

• % Sikh – cen_rel_sikh – Constituency Sikh population.

• % No Religion – cen_rel_no religion – Constituents identifying as non-religious.

• % No Qualifications – cen_qual_none – Constituents with no formal qualifications.

• % Graduates – cen_qual_grad – Constituents with degree-level education.

• % Some Disability – cen_disab_some – Constituents reporting a form of disability.

✝️ Why are Catholics separate from Christians?

Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting we bring back the Test Acts. The logic here is that more granular data is better.

When swearing in, there are versions of the Bible specific to Catholics — typically the New Jerusalem Bible or the Douay–Rheims Bible — whereas if someone just asks for “the Bible”, they are given the King James Version and could be from any Christian denomination.

It would be a shame to lose that detail, so I provide the option to break out Catholic MPs separately.

📚 Where can I find more information about swearing in and the parliamentary oath?

The Parliament website has a great guide:

👉 https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/swearingin/

👤 Who created this dashboard?

This dashboard was created by Dr David Jeffery, University of Liverpool.

Follow me on Twitter/X or Bluesky.

❓ Why did you create this dashboard?

I needed to know MPs’ religion, and the text MPs used to swear in seemed like a valid proxy. This information was held by Humanists UK and when I asked for it, they said no.

So I did what any time-starved academic would do: I collected the data myself, by hand, and decided to make it public.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aim of the study was to ascertain the number and frequency of people attending church of all denominations in Scotland in 2002. Several denominational changes had taken place in Scotland since the last census in 1994 (SN 4395) and 1984 (SN 2554). Political changes, with the formation of the Scottish Parliament, had brought about boundary changes for many councils, by which church attendance was previously analysed. A combination of denomination, political and population change had necessitated a revision of church attendance. In particular the study was to evaluate if the age structure of churchgoers had altered over the past decade and to establish if the trend in decline in the number of young people attending Sunday worship in England was true of Scotland.

Main Topics:

The data cover: church attendance; age, gender and size of congregation for both adults and children; congregational ethos; type of area church is in; frequency of services; mid-week services; youth activities; church-run activities; Alpha and Emmaus programme; lay ministries.