For over 15 years, we have been looking at the backgrounds of
individuals in high-ranking positions across British society.
We want your views before we start our next research on
the issue - who makes up Britain's elite in the 2020s?
Have your say below ⬇️
Our last piece of research on elites in Britain was in 2019.
Alongside the Social Mobility Commission, we analysed the backgrounds of 5,000 individuals in high-ranking positions across British society.
We looked at nine key areas: politics, business, the media, Whitehall and public bodies, public servants, local government, the creative industries, women, and sport.
It found that those who were privately educated, and those who went to Oxbridge for university, are heavily overrepresented in top jobs within competitive sectors like politics, law and the media.
Four years on, we are taking another look at the issue, with a renewed consideration of which professions and areas of British society we should focus on.
So, we want to know…which professions do you think should be included among Britain’s elite? People working at think tanks? Politicians in devolved governments? Tech leaders?
Let us know who you think are the most influential people in Britain for our upcoming research.
Elitist Britain 2019
A detailed look at the backgrounds of Britain's leading people, including politicians, CEOs, athletes and many more.
Elitist Britain 2019
The pathways taken by those in the most influential positions, through education from school to university.
As there is no single way to define this group, in the 2019 report we looked across a wide range of different professions, including individuals with the most political power and influence; those with the most wealth and the highest earnings; people working at the top of the country’s key institutions; and the individuals playing leading roles in our cultural life.
Elitist Britain 2019 considered the following key areas of British society:
Once the deadline has passed and the survey is closed, all responses will be fully reviewed by the Sutton Trust research team who will make a final decision on the categories and methodology to be used for the next report, informed by the feedback we have received.
There will unfortunately be categories suggested through the Call for Ideas that we are not able to include due to capacity constraints. Consequently, although all suggestions will be fully evaluated, we cannot guarantee that all suggestions will be included in the final report.