Identity politics: British voters no longer split between left and right, says survey

The latest British Social Attitudes survey has revealed how the government’s handling of successive global crises and political turmoil has dramatically undermined trust and confidence in politics. A record 45 per cent of adults now say they “almost never” trust governments of any persuasion to place the needs of the nation above the interests of their party – up 22 percentage points since the height of the pandemic. The survey by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) found the proportion of people dissatisfied with the NHS has more than doubled since 2019, to 52 per cent. It also suggests identity issues like immigration and trans rights have become stark dividing lines for voters. Professor Sir John Curtice, Senior Research Fellow at NatCen and co-host of Tortoise’s Trendy podcast, said today’s political parties are fighting in a “two-dimensional space in which issues of culture and identity, including Brexit, are as important as the divide between left and right.”

Listen to this week’s episode of Trendy for more insights, out tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts.