UK’s sense of division reaches new high as culture war tensions grow, study finds
Perceptions of division in the UK have reached their highest point since trends began in 2020, with 84% of the public now saying the country feels divided – up from 79% two years ago and 74% five years ago, according to a major new study.
At the same time, the share who believe the nation is divided by “culture wars” specifically has risen by an even greater extent, from 46% in 2020 to 67% today, with most of this increase occurring since 2023, when 54% held this view.
The findings come in a new study carried out by the Policy Institute at King’s College London and Ipsos, as part of a research programme that began in 2020, and also reveal a country increasingly nostalgic for the past and uneasy about the pace of cultural change, with tensions rising around immigration.
On top of this, there are growing concerns about the problems caused by culture wars, a deepening rejection of the term “woke”, and notable shifts in attitudes on transgender rights.
Based on a representative survey of 4,027 people aged 16+ using the Ipsos UK online random probability KnowledgePanel, the study finds:
- Half (50%) the public today say the culture in the UK is changing too fast, compared with 35% five years ago, and half (48%) also say they would like their country to be the way it used to be – up from 28% in 2020, with this nostalgia rising among both young and old.
- 64% of the public now agree culture wars are a serious problem for UK society and politics – up from 52% in 2023 and 44% in 2020. And in the last two years, the proportion who strongly agree with this view has doubled from 10% to 20%.
- The share of the public who say they feel proud of their country has dipped below a majority, falling from 56% to 46% in the last five years.
- Perceived tension between immigrants and people born in the UK has risen over the last two years after previously been in decline, increasing from 74% who felt there was tension in 2023 to 86% today.
- But Brexit divides continue to heal – even with 52% still feeling there is tension between Leavers and Remainers, this is down from 58% in 2023 and 78% in 2020.
- The proportion who say transgender rights have gone too far has more than doubled since 2020, from 17% to 39%, though overall there is still no public consensus on the issue.
- Around half (48%) the public now consider “woke” an insult – an increase from 42% in 2023 and 24% back in 2020, as awareness of the term has grown.
- But a majority either do not consider themselves “woke” or “anti-woke” (43%) or don’t know what the terms mean (19%), with around one in five identifying as each.
Part of a long-term research programme into culture wars in the UK, the study uses random probability sampling – the most rigorous survey method available – and involves providing offline households with tablets and internet access, ensuring results represent all of society, not just those already engaged online.
Culture wars and perceptions of cultural change
Half (50%) the public today say the culture in the UK is changing too fast, compared with around a third (35%) five years ago. One in five (21%) disagree. The rise is largely driven by older and middle-aged people – for example, 65% of those aged 55+ now agree UK culture is changing too fast, up from 47% in 2020.
Similarly, half (48%) say they would like their country to be the way it used to be – up from around a quarter (28%) in 2020. This nostalgia has risen across every age group – not just the oldest – with the share of 16- to 24-year-olds who feel this way virtually doubling, from 16% to 31%, over the last five years.
In 2020, 77% of people felt the media often makes the country feel more divided than it really is. Now 66% feel this way. And 60% of the public feel politicians invent or exaggerate culture wars as a political tactic – virtually unchanged from two years ago (62%), but still far higher than back in 2020 (44%).
And the share of the public who say they feel proud of their country has dipped below a majority, falling from 56% to 46% in the last five years. The proportion of people expressing national pride has declined across a range of groups, and is lowest among 16- to 24-year-olds at 29% (down 18 points) and ethnic minorities at 38% (down 16 points). By party support, national pride is highest among Conservatives (72%), but lowest among Greens (19%).
Reform UK voters are most concerned
Reform UK are the only party with a majority (58%) of supporters who feel the UK is very divided – almost double the share of Conservative (33%) and Labour (31%) supporters who say the same, with Green Party supporters in the middle (46%).
And eight in 10 (83%) Reform UK supporters agree the UK is divided by culture wars, compared with around six or seven in 10 of supporters of other parties. 38% of Reform supporters also strongly agree the UK is divided in this way. This compares with 20% of Green Party supporters, who are next most likely to strongly agree.
Nine in 10 (88%) Reform UK supporters agree the pace of cultural change is too fast, compared with seven in 10 (67%) Conservative supporters, who are next most likely to feel this way. Reform supporters are also the only political group where a majority (55%) strongly agree with this view.
Sources of tension and fault lines in the culture war
Between 2020 and 2023, the share of the public who feel there is tension between immigrants and people born in the UK decreased slightly, from 80% to 74%. But since then, it has increased, rising to 86% over the last two years.
Similar proportions of Reform UK (94%) and Conservative (92%) supporters think there is tension between immigrants and people born in the UK – but there is a big difference in strength of feeling between the two groups, with Reform supporters 25 points more likely to say there’s a great deal of tension.
But Brexit divides continue to heal – even with 52% still feeling there is tension between Leavers and Remainers, this is down from 58% in 2023 and 78% in 2020. In 2020, 74% also thought there was tension between people belonging to different social classes, but this has since declined to 62%.
However, perceived tension between supporters of different political parties has risen slightly from 64% to 68% since 2023, although this is still down on the level seen in 2020 (75%).
Divisions over climate change are today seen as worse than divisions over Brexit, with the public more likely to say there is tension between climate change sceptics and believers (64%) than between Leavers and Remainers (52%), or between younger and older generations (45%).
The proportion who say transgender rights have gone too far in the UK has more than doubled since 2020, from 17% to 39%, though overall there is still no public consensus on the issue, with 19% now saying transgender rights have not gone far enough, 27% saying they’ve gone as far as they should, and a further 15% not giving an opinion.
The proportion of people who say transgender rights have gone too far has doubled among all age groups – even 16-24s, where one in five (19%) now feel this way, compared with around one in 10 (9%) in 2020. However, young people are still more likely to say transgender rights have not gone far enough (36%).
People are still relatively divided on how Britain’s colonial past should be viewed today, with 34% saying the British empire is something to be proud of, compared with 23% who say it’s something to be ashamed of, and 36% who say neither – virtually unchanged from attitudes five years ago.
Among every age group – including the youngest – men are much more likely than women to say the British empire is something to be proud of. For example, 31% of men aged 16 to 29 feel this way, compared with 14% of women of the same age.
“Woke”: insult or compliment, and who identifies with the term?
Nearly half (48%) the public now consider “woke” an insult, rather than a compliment – up from 42% two years ago and 24% back in 2020, as awareness of the term has grown. One in five (22%) today say “woke” is a compliment, while another one in five (19%) say they don’t know what it means.
Since 2023, young people have seen the biggest rise in the belief that “woke is an insult” – from 27% to 38%, meaning they are now evenly split on whether they see it as a criticism or a compliment. However, over the longer term, the biggest rise in negative feeling towards the term has been among older people, with 55% of those aged 55+ now seeing woke as an insult, up from 25% in 2020.
But a majority either do not consider themselves “woke” or “anti-woke” (43%) or don’t know what the terms mean (19%), with around one in five identifying as each.
However, attitudes have shifted since 2023 among young men aged 16 to 29, who are the only group to have seen a substantial increase in the share who identify as woke, from 17% to 29% (although among all age groups, men are more likely to see themselves as ‘anti-woke’ than women).
And a third of older men aged 60+ (35%) consider themselves to be anti-woke – roughly the same as the share of young women aged 16 to 29 (37%) who identify as woke.
Friends across the political fault lines?
Two in five (38%) people say it’s hard to be friends with Reform UK voters, with one five (20%) strongly agreeing with this view. This is double the proportion who say it’s hard to be friends with Conservative voters (20%) and three times the share who feel this way about Labour voters (12%), even if still only a minority.
Among all major parties’ supporters, those who back the Green Party are most likely to say friendships with Reform and Conservative voters are hard. For example, 52% of Green supporters feel this way about Conservative voters – double the share of Labour (26%) and Lib Dem (25%) supporters who say the same.
And majorities of all parties’ supporters – except those belonging to Reform UK (41%) – say it’s not hard to be friends with Labour voters.
Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, said:
This latest study shows a frightening increase in the sense of national division and decline in the UK in just a few years. We’ve seen steep rises in the beliefs that the UK is divided, that 'culture wars' are real and that things were better in the past. Two-thirds think the UK is now divided by culture wars, up from 46% five years ago. Half now say that we’re changing too fast and would like the country to be the way it used to be, both up from around a third in 2020.
Reform supporters stand out as particularly negative about the direction of the country and sense of division – an incredible 88% say they’d like the country to be the way it used to be, compared with just 20% of Green supporters. But this points to the real challenge – that we now have incredibly different perspectives between different groups in the country, across party lines and by age group. Three-quarters of Reform supporters say there is a ‘great deal’ of tension between immigrants and people born in the UK, twice the level of Labour, Lib Dem and Green supporters. Six in 10 young women say that transgender rights have gone as far as they should or have not gone far enough, while six in 10 older men say transgender rights have gone too far.
We lived through an incredibly divisive period around the EU referendum and its aftermath, when there were there was stark opposition and real tension between those who identified with the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ sides of the argument. This has died down, with a steep fall in the tension that people see between Leavers and Remainers today. But, rather than leading to a sense of greater national connection, the division has morphed into party political and other splits, with attitudes to immigration and the speed of culture change more generally at the heart of them.
Gideon Skinner, Senior Director of UK Politics at Ipsos, said:
Continued global and domestic disruption and fragmentation is reflected in our latest study, which illustrates how the narrative around culture wars is intensifying in the UK. Perceptions of political and cultural disharmony are growing, reflecting a society grappling with nostalgia, the pace of change, and growing tensions over immigration, and with polarised views over what terms like ‘woke’ signify. These views are most notable among Reform UK supporters, with the party becoming a home for those concerned about the pace of change, and to a lesser extent among older people, but we’re seeing changes across society, including among younger people too.
At the same time, we need to be aware of the nuance in public opinion on this topic. On many issues there is no clear consensus, with a need to understand the differences under the topline figures; it should not be forgotten that many people are not on the extremes in their views; some tensions such as over Brexit are lessening; and in most cases only a minority say they can’t be friends with supporters of opposing political parties (although Reform again provokes stronger feelings). The challenge is to understand the roots of these divisions and use these insights to create dialogue and policy that can help reduce further polarisation.
Technical note
Ipsos UK interviewed online a representative sample of 4,027 adults aged 16+ across the United Kingdom between 21 and 27 August 2025, following previous surveys of 3,716 between 17 and 23 August 2023, 2,931 between 13 and 19 January 2022, and 2,834 between 25 November and 2 December 2020. This data has been collected by Ipsos’ UK KnowledgePanel, an online random probability panel which provides gold standard insights into the UK population, by providing bigger sample sizes via the most rigorous research methods. Data are weighted by age, gender, region, Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile, education, ethnicity and number of adults in the household in order to reflect the profile of the UK population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.
