Lifestyle

Support for monarchy dips below 50% for first time

Support for the Royal Family has dipped below 50 per cent for the first time, a new Savanta poll has revealed.

Research conducted for the anti-monarchy group Republic found levels of support for the institution have fallen to 48 per cent, having consistently rallied at above 50 per cent under the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Survey members were asked: “What would you prefer for the UK, a monarchy or an elected head of state?”

The results showed that just under half would prefer a monarchy while 32 per cent said that they would prefer an elected head of state and 20 per cent said they “don’t know.”

Most concerningly of all for the Royals, support from the younger demographic of the UK’s population remains the lowest as 35 per cent of Gen Z would prefer a monarch compared to 35 per cent opting for a head of state.

Speaking for Republic, who commissioned the poll, Graham Smith said today: “This is huge. Royalists have spent years saying the monarchy has the support of the country. That’s clearly no longer the case.”

“The monarchy is suffering a calamitous loss of support, yet one in five aren’t yet sure about the alternative. We desperately need a better informed, more robust and higher profile debate about what it means to abolish the monarchy.”

“The same poll carried out in late November showed just 52 per cent preferred the monarchy, and in just six weeks they’ve dropped four points.”

“The monarchy relies on a fake mandate built on polling numbers, yet that argument no longer stands up.”

“Andrew has clearly done significant damage to the monarchy, but Charles is the one responsible. He has been behind decisions on how to mis-manage the scandal, and how to respond to Harry and Meghan. This is the result.”

“The monarchy is on borrowed time. Britain will be a republic.”

Savanta interviewed 2,281 UK adults aged 18+ online between 5th and 8th January 2024.

Data were weighted to be representative of the UK by age, sex, region, and social grade.

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Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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