Recent polling indicates that the number of Britons worried about national defense has doubled in a month, although immigration remains the top concern.
A recent survey suggests that more people in the UK now view defense as a critical issue than during the Cold War era. According to the poll by IPSOS, the percentage of individuals citing defense as one of the “key issues facing the UK today” increased from 12% in December to 24% in January.
The British newspaper Times reported that this uptick reflects “a surge in anxiety about global politics and the possibility of war,” particularly following U.S. actions in Venezuela.
Interestingly, the concern around defense doesn’t seem to be evenly spread across different political groups. Data shows that left-leaning individuals express more concern about defense compared to conservatives, which is somewhat contrary to traditional views. About 40% of Liberal Democrat, Labor, and Green Party supporters highlighted defense as a primary issue, whereas only 25% of Conservative voters shared the same sentiment.
On the other hand, supporters of Nigel Farage’s Reform Britain are least likely to view defense and foreign affairs as significant issues, with only 12% considering them critical. This might be influenced by their strong focus on immigration, which, while still a major concern for 41% of voters, saw a slight drop from 46% in December, even as defense worries have surged.
The concern for defense also varies across age groups. The Times noted that older individuals are more likely to see it as a pressing problem, while only 6% of those aged 18-24 share that view.
Polling agency IPSOS published historical data showing that 24% of Britons currently have near-record levels of interest in defense and security. Historically, aside from a few peaks linked to global events, this concern has been low for decades, even at the end of the Cold War when fewer than 10% identified defense as a top priority.
The largest single-month increase in defense spending occurred in January 1991, when interest surged by 65%, largely due to geopolitical changes in Europe and the onset of the first Gulf War. More recently, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, the number of people rating national defense as important jumped to 35% in just one month.
These figures from this period reveal that the public was largely unprepared for the looming Russian threat, with only 2% identifying defense as their top priority before the invasion. Interest quickly diminished, dropping to single digits by 2023.
