More Britons care about who wins the US election than the Tory leadership race
A new Ipsos survey reveals how the British public views the upcoming US presidential election, offering insights into name recognition, favourability, and perceived impact on UK-US relations.
Awareness
- Almost half of Britons (49%) say they personally care about the outcome of the US election, slightly more than those who say they don't care (46%).
- The proportion of those who say that they care about the US election (49%) is higher than the percentage who say they care about the outcome of the Conservative leadership race (31%).
- Donald Trump is more widely recognised than other politicians included in the survey, with 73% of British adults saying they know a great deal or a fair amount about him. This compares to 64% for Keir Starmer and 45% for his rival Kamala Harris.
- Awareness levels for both Trump and Harris are significantly higher than for Tory leadership candidates Kemi Badenoch (24%) and Robert Jenrick (22%).
Who do Britons want to win?
- Kamala Harris enjoys a positive net favourability rating among Brits, with over two in five (43%) holding a favourable view compared to 19% unfavourable. Conversely, Donald Trump's net favourability is deeply negative, with 64% holding an unfavourable opinion and only 19% favourable.
- When asked about how the US election is likely to impact US-UK relations, just over half (52%) of Britons believe a Trump victory would negatively impact the UK's relationship with the US, while 45% think a Harris win would have a positive effect.
- More Britons (35%) believe Kamala Harris is likely to win the election than Donald Trump (30%). This represents a shift from July where almost half (49%) of Britons believed that Trump was likely to defeat Harris (22%).
- 54% of Brits would prefer a Harris win. 21% would prefer Trump.
Who do Britons think would make the better Prime Minister?
- Two in five (39%) Britons think Kamala Harris would do a good job as UK Prime Minister, while three in five (59%) think Donald Trump would do a bad job.
- A third (34%) of Britons believe Harris would do a better job than current Prime Minister Keir Starmer, while another third (34%) think she would perform similarly. 13% believe she would be worse.
- 27% of Britons believe that Donald Trump would make a better Prime Minister than Starmer, with 45% believing that he would be worse (17% the same).
Commenting on the findings, Keiran Pedley, UK Director of Politics at Ipsos said:
It says a lot about the level of interest in all things Americana this side of the Atlantic when Britons are more interested in who the next US president is than the next leader of the Conservative Party – or maybe it says more about how far the Conservative Party has fallen. Regardless, the public prefer a Harris victory and think it would be better for the UK than a Trump win, even if they are split on who they actually think will emerge victorious.
Technical note:
- Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,117 British adults aged 18+ online between October 18th and 21st, 2024.
- Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.
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