Americans more likely than Britons to say there is a 'special relationship'

As President Obama visits the United Kingdom, and is expected to intervene in the EU referendum debate, a new poll from Ipsos reveals that although Americans are slightly more likely than Britons to believe the ‘special relationship’ currently exists, a majority of both populations feel ‘Brexit’ would make little difference to the connection between the two countries. 

The survey, carried out among 1,000 online adults aged under 65 in each country, found half (52%) of Americans agree that there is currently a ‘special relationship’ between the two countries, as do 43% of Britons.  Britons though are more sceptical about the relationship – one in five (20%) disagree that it currently exists, compared with just 7% of Americans. Older Americans, and more highly educated Americans, are most likely to have faith that there is a special relationship, at around six in ten (60% and 64% agreeing respectively).

 

When asked to think about the possible implications of Britain voting to leave the European Union, 58% of Britons and 60% of Americans think it would make no difference to the special relationship. Britons though are more worried about the potential impact than Americans – one in four Britons (26%) think Brexit would weaken the relationship, while 14% say it will make it stronger. Americans are more evenly divided – 20% think it would damage the relationship, while 20% say it will strengthen it.

Unsurprisingly, views on the best outcome of the referendum play a strong part in people’s views. Those who think it would be best for Britain to stay in the EU are much more likely to think that Brexit would weaken the special relationship (among Britons who think the best outcome would be to stay, 42% think the special relationship would be weakened by Brexit, compared with 8% of those who think it would be best to leave).  

 

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos UK, said:

“There has been a lot of interest in President Obama’s visit to the UK and his intervention in the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.  We know the British public are split right down the middle on whether Mr Obama should intervene, according to whether they agree with his views or not, but overall it seems as if most Britons feel Brexit would make little difference to any special relationship there is with the United States (although those wanting to remain in the EU are more worried).  Matters closer to home such as the British economy and immigration are likely to play bigger roles in how voters are going to make up their minds.”

Clifford Young, President of Ipsos US Public Affairs, said:

“The data indicates that Americans tend to view United Kingdom in a positive light and believe in ongoing strength of the “special relationship” - indeed more than the British themselves do! The Brexit referendum will not notably impact how Americans view the UK, regardless of what President Obama may say in his speech to the British people on Saturday.”

• Download the tables (PDF)
• Download the charts (PDF)

Technical note

The study is based on interviews with 1,005 adults aged 16-64 in Great Britain and 1,005 adults aged 18-64 in the United States. Data are weighted to age, gender, region, and household income based on recent Census and/or population figures for each country. Interviews were conducted via Ipsos Global @dvisor Online Omnibus from March 25 to April 8 2016.