More than 80% of Brits believe the UK is in a bad state
There has been much recent discourse on whether or not the UK is worse now than it was in the past.
A new YouGov poll looked at what people think of the current state of the country, and how that compares with other countries in the West. The study also compares attitudes with perceptions of Britons’ own local areas.
Fully 82% of Britons consider the UK to be in a bad state, including 36% who see the country as being in a “very bad” state. Only 14% think the UK is in good health, with just 1% proclaiming it to be in a “very good” state.
Three-quarters of the public say the country is in a worse place now than it was 10 years ago (75%), and most Britons likewise expect conditions to deteriorate over the coming 12 months (60%).
The public also has a tendency to think that the UK is in a worse place than other Western countries, with 48% saying things here are worse than most or all other peer nations.
Further decline seen
YouGov previously ran three of these four questions in May of last year, and a comparison shows that negative attitudes are hardening, with public perceptions being even worse than last year.
While 80% of Britons who considered the UK to be in a bad state last year is largely the same as the 82% this year, the number saying we are in a “very bad” place specifically has increased by five points. There has likewise been a similar five-point increase in the number saying the UK is worse than other Western countries.
When it comes to expectations for the next twelve months, the 60% who currently think things are set to get worse is an enormous increase on the 39% from last year – this is likely because the previous survey was conducted in the early stages of the 2024 general election campaign, with many people doubtless anticipating that a change of government would improve things.
Further decline expected
In contrast to expectations of the country more generally, most Britons (54%) expect that their local area will be in about the same state in a year’s time as it is now, but 32% think things will get worse locally – and only 7% expect them to get better.
However, opinion is much more negative when asked to say how things have changed in the last ten years – 48% say their local area is worse now than it was in 2015, with a quarter saying it is in about the same state (26%) and only 15% saying things have improved where they live.
Nevertheless, few Britons believe themselves to live in an area that is worse than most other parts of the country (12%). Instead, the largest portion consider themselves to live in an area that is “about average” (42%), while a further 36% think their area is doing better than most other parts of the UK – although this might not be saying much given so many of the public think the country in general is doing badly.
If we combine the three variables on people’s perceptions of their local area’s past, present and future, some notable groups emerge.
