UK public still back US as Britain’s best ally, survey says

The UK public thinks the US is still Britain’s best ally over the EU and Commonwealth nations in the wake of the election of Donald Trump back to the White House, according to a new poll.

As leaders around the EU suggest that the bloc will have to rely on themselves more to deal with global crises such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine given the incoming US president’s “America First” doctrine, Britons overall still back the “special relationship” with Washington, according to a survey as leading nations meet up for the G20 summit in Brazil.

Thirty per cent of those asked in new research by political polling group Savanta said that the US was the country’s greatest ally, over the European Union (25 per cent) and Commonwealth nations (23 per cent).

But there is a bit of a political split between supporters of Britain’s two largest political parties, with 2024 Labour voters more likely to believe EU countries are the UK’s best allies (33 per cent of those polled), while Conservative voters from this year are more likely to say it is the US (42 per cent of those asked), followed by Commonwealth countries (26 per cent) – with EU nations at a mere 14 per cent.

Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta said: “Despite knowing the likely unpredictability of the incoming Trump administration, the UK public is still more likely to say that the United States is this country’s greatest ally, over European Union and Commonwealth nations. Interestingly, Labour voters are more likely to say countries like France and Germany are stronger allies over the US – something for [Keir] Starmer’s government to think about.”

There is consensus across party lines that Russia is the UK’s greatest threat, with 52 per cent of those polled saying the UK should be focusing on that over China (13 per cent) and Iran (7 per cent). Fifty-five per cent of Labour voters said Russia was the gravest threat, while 60 per cent of Liberal Democrat and 61 per cent of Conservative voters said the same.

As for what other issues world leaders should be focusing on as top priorities: 22 per cent said managing migration, while 15 per cent said tackling the climate crisis. The same percentage, 15 per cent, also said that peace efforts over conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine should be the focus. Other issues include reducing global poverty (13 per cent) and regulating Artificial Intelligence/new technologies (four per cent).

Savanta interviewed 2,040 UK adults online on 8 November to 10 November 2024, with the data weighted to be representative of all UK adults.