Top five issues
To understand the importance of the EU issue, it’s important first to understand the top issues that concern British adults. Ipsos has polled British adults on their top concerns since 1974.
For May 2026, Ipsos reported that the British public’s top five issues mentioned were immigration/immigrants (41%), economy (34%), inflation/prices (25%), NHS/hospitals/healthcare (22%), and defence/foreign affairs (15%) (Figure 17.1).
Figure 17.1: Top five concerns mentioned in May 2026
EU/Europe/Brexit as a top issue
EU/Europe/Brexit was a long way from being a top-five issue in May 2026 (Figure 17.2). With less than 5% mentioning it, it scored slightly higher than the low point of 2% which happened just after the 2024 General Election. This low level of concern is similar to that seen in the pre-Cameron years.
In the decade or so preceding the referendum, the EU flew well under the key-issue radar. Throughout the period 2005 – 2013, less than 10% of adults mentioned it as a top issue, with slightly more mentioning it in 2014 and 2015:
- in 2010, the EU was a top issue for only 1% of adults after Cameron became Prime Minister, but rose sharply to 40%, following the launch of David Cameron’s EU referendum;
- its importance peaked at 72% in March 2019, during the Brexit negotiations:
- by December 2019, half (52%) saw it as the single biggest concern, at the time of the General Election;
- it rose to 60% as a top concern in December 2020, the deadline for the UK-EU trade negotiations;
- since then, the importance of EU/Europe/Brexit has steadily declined to its pre-Cameron levels.
Figure 17.2: Adults who see EU/Europe/Brexit as one of the most important issues facing Britain today (%) – May 2026
