Sean Connery beats Santa as UK’s most wanted Guardian Angel
13 December 2005
Given the choice, more Brits would have Sean Connery as their Guardian Angel than Santa, according to new research from AXA.
Research among more than 1,000 Britons found that the former Bond star was the number one choice with 15% of the nation selecting Sean Connery as the person they would most like watching over them.
In second place, with 14%, was the archetypal father figure, Santa Claus. Robbie Williams (7%) and Keira Knightley (6%) were third and fourth in the rankings. The Queen and Hell’s Kitchen star Gordon Ramsey both secured 5% of the vote respectively. Tony Blair however, is the choice for only 1% of the nation, being less popular than Supermodel Jordan, who was chosen as the ideal guardian angel by 2% of Brits.
Pete Doherty was voted the nation’s least popular guardian angel, with only 2% of 16-24 year olds stating they’d like him to watch over them, and none of the other age groups selecting him as their guardian angel.
Perhaps unsurprisingly Keira Knightley received three times as many votes from men (9%) as she did from women (3%). Abi Titmus and Charlotte Church received 6% and 4% respectively of the votes from men, with no votes from women at all. Similarly, David Beckham and Prince William were considerably more popular choices among the women.
If we look at how men and women voted, the results do change. Almost twice as many women (18%) as men (10%) selected Santa Claus as their guardian angel. For those in the 55 — 64 age bracket, the most popular choice, again, was Santa Claus (21%), followed by Sean Connery (14%) and the Queen with 11% of the vote. While it is a very close popularity contest between Santa Claus and Sean Connery, the former bond star was the number one choice across the entire survey. The younger age groups in particular favoured Connery, with those aged 16-44 all choosing him above Santa Claus.
Paul Bennett, AXA Protection Marketing Manager commented, "We all want someone to look out for us, and while we were surprised that Sean Connery pipped Santa Claus to the position of Britain’s most wanted guardian angel, perhaps it says something about the fact that we as a nation want to rely on real-life solutions and answers.
"Protecting our health and livelihood is obviously important to Britons. While this survey demonstrates that we like the idea of a guardian angel, we all know that in reality we have to make our own plans to protect our well-being and dependents. We advise people to ensure they have the financial protection they need and to review this with a financial adviser."
