The British society is still dominated by class divisions and this was clearly demonstrated during the general election when the media dissected the background of political leaders to reveal their class.
Prime Minister David Cameron, an old Etonian from a privileged background, had to battle attacks from the Labour party over his upper class background and his deputy Nick Clegg had to face claims that he had hidden his posh, or upper class, background.
In Britain, it is not money which makes a person upper class — Upbringing, income, owning more than one house, education, job and family money are the real factors, a survey by Opinium Research, a market research agency, revealed.
Surprisingly, people who describe themselves as upper class believe education is the most important factor in determining social status. After education, upbringing, parents’ occupation and political views affect the social status of a person in Britain.
More than one in three Britons (36 per cent) consider themselves working class, 31 per cent describe themselves as middle class, and only five per cent said they don’t believe social classes exist.
Britons believe that people who go to the opera or a ballet performance, who employ a cleaner, wear clothing brands like Hackett and Barbour, have an interest in horses or sailing and shop at Waitrose are posh.
Spending more than £10 on a bottle of wine, saying “supper” instead of dinner, drinking Earl Grey or other specialist teas, greeting with a kiss on both cheeks and having an Aga also qualifies people as upper class or posh.
However, there is also a stigma attached to the label posh. One in nine people (11 per cent) revealed in the survey that they would not marry a posh person and almost two in three (63 per cent) would not want to be considered posh.
“What people consider to be ‘posh’ seems to be really wide ranging. Most people look to a person’s education but will also judge people on little things like where they shop and what type of tea they drink. It’s interesting that whilst, 63 per cent of people would not like to be thought of as posh, nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of us would marry somebody that is. Sounds like most people like that type of lifestyle, just not the label,” according to Opinium Research managing director James Endersby.