A decade after the Brexit referendum, the British public’s view on immigration has soured further, with a new YouGov poll showing more people now regard it as “mostly bad” for the country than at any point around the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
The survey, conducted as a follow-up to an identical poll in August 2016, found that 43 per cent of Britons now say immigration has been mostly bad for the UK, up from 33 per cent ten years ago. Just 21 per cent said this month that immigration has been mostly good, while 29 per cent described it as “both good and bad” for the country.
The findings suggest that the public mood has shifted significantly even as overall concern about the scale of immigration has remained broadly stable. In 2016, 70 per cent of Britons told YouGov that immigration had been too high over the preceding decade; in 2026, that figure stands at 69 per cent. But the intensity of that concern has grown, with 47 per cent now saying immigration has been “much too high,” compared with 44 per cent at the time of the referendum.
Leave and Remain Voters Agree — But Differ Sharply
Notably, the poll found that a majority of both Leave and Remain voters in the 2016 referendum believe immigration levels have been too high. However, the gap between the two camps remains stark: 93 per cent of Leave voters say immigration has been too high, while among Remain voters the figure is 53 per cent.
Party breakdowns from the 2024 general election show Reform UK supporters are the most likely to say immigration is too high, at 98 per cent, followed by 90 per cent of Conservative voters. But majorities also exist among left-wing parties: 53 per cent of Labour voters and 56 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters agreed. Only Green Party voters, at 40 per cent, fell below majority.
Not All Immigration Viewed Equally
The survey also reveals that Britons distinguish sharply between different groups of migrants. Immigrants from Anglosphere countries are viewed most favourably, with 69 per cent approving of immigration from Ireland, and 68 per cent each for Australia and Canada. Other wealthy nations also score well, including Sweden (64 per cent), Germany (62 per cent), Japan (58 per cent), the United States (55 per cent), and Poland (53 per cent).
At the other end of the spectrum, 58 per cent of Britons say they want fewer or no immigrants from Russia, followed by Pakistan (52 per cent) and Nigeria (48 per cent).
Criminal History, Skills Top Public Priorities
When asked what factors should be considered for economic migrants, the British public overwhelmingly prioritised criminal history, with 94 per cent saying a record of violent or major crimes should be taken into account. Education level and having a job lined up both followed at 76 per cent, with intention to bring family at 73 per cent. Other factors cited were wealth (60 per cent), age (56 per cent), and IQ (54 per cent).
The shift in public opinion comes as immigration remains a central issue in British politics, with parties across the spectrum grappling with how to address public concerns while managing economic and humanitarian pressures. The YouGov data underscores that, a decade on from the Brexit vote, the electorate’s anxieties about immigration have not faded — they have deepened.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/08/14/britons-have-more-negative-view-of-immigration-than-at-brexit-referendum-poll/