Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

It has long been my prediction that St George’s Day will become a national holiday.

Listen to this article

The UK has fewer national holidays than many of its European neighbours and, unlike Scotland and Ireland, England does not have its patron saint’s day as a day off.

Perhaps April 23 falls too close to Easter and May Day. But with some diary jigging it feels like only a matter of time until a struggling government decides (in a pre-election sweetener) to make St George’s Day a national holiday.

It would be a vote-winner, an easy morale boost, or at least something of a legacy to leave behind.

You wouldn’t want to be the government that took away a bank holiday, after all.

But for 2026 at least, St George’s Day is not a bank holiday, and the English are struggling to know how to celebrate.

Hanging up the national........

© LBC