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Britons now favour Europe over the United States as an ally, a new study has found, marking a complete reversal of public opinion from almost 60 years ago.
The study, by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, found that a majority of 53 per cent now say Britain should prioritise Europe, compared with 31 per cent who say the opposite – an almost mirror image of opinion back in 1967, when the public favoured America over Europe by 53 per cent to 33 per cent.
Professor Bobby Duffy, director of KCL’s Policy Institute, said the shift is related to both the “febrile and unpredictable political atmosphere around the re-election of President Trump” and “the many years building closer ties to Europe since the 1960s.”
It comes amid fears that the president’s plans to introduce tariffs and instigate a trade war will force Britain to choose between striking a trade deal with the incoming US president and continuing to pursue closer ties with the EU in a planned reset of Britain’s relationship with the bloc.
But in December, Sir Keir Starmer rejected demands that he make a choice between a trade deal with the US and closer relations with the EU, saying such a suggestion is “plain wrong”.
Meanwhile, insiders this week told The Independent that Mr Trump’s new administration believes it has Sir Keir’s government “over a barrel” on trade as Britain becomes increasingly reliant on a US trade deal.
Senior sources in the president’s team said the UK had no choice but to seek a trade agreement after the prime minister said his government’s success would be judged primarily on economic growth.
Despite the public generally being in favour of Europe, Reform UK voters have a marked commitment to America, with 55 per cent to 31 per cent saying Britain should side with the US over Europe if it ever had to choose between them as allies.
By contrast, Conservative voters are much more closely divided, with 43 per cent backing America and 40 per cent backing Europe.
Labour voters, however, heavily prefer Europe with just 23 per cent choosing the US and 65 per cent siding with Europe.
The polling comes just days after Nigel Farage travelled to Washington DC for the inauguration of Donald Trump, a close ally of the Reform UK leader.
The research – relying on data conducted by Focaldata in December 2024 and data from historic polls – also says the public are now almost twice as likely to say they’d prefer the UK to be more like Sweden and Switzerland (51 per cent) instead of trying be a leading world power (28 per cent).
“These long-term trends remind us how much we’ve changed, with UK public opinion being shaped by decades of national and global politics.
“We have moved away from seeing the US as key allies in the 1960s, which won’t just be related to the febrile and unpredictable political atmosphere around the re-election of President Trump, but also to the many years building closer ties to Europe since the 1960s”, Professor Duffy said.
He added: “Some of these international uncertainties, as well as perhaps increased realism in our global standing, mean most would now prefer Britain take a lower profile on the world stage, following Sweden or Switzerland’s example, rather than trying to be a leading power.”
Mr Farage and right-wing Tories, including Boris Johnson, flew into Washington this week for Mr Trump’s inauguration – but the British Labour government largely watched the festivities from afar.
The Reform UK leader was asked by members of Mr Trump’s team to speak at events around the inauguration and hosted a glitzy champagne-fuelled party for the incoming president.
Ahead of the inauguration, he was proclaimed “the next prime minister of Great Britain” at the party which was a coming together of top Maga conservatives with Reform UK, Brexiteers and top Tories.
The polling, which surveyed 1,033 UK adults, was conducted by Focaldata between December 11 and 12 2024.