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Since October 2022, public concern about the economy has remained the leading issue facing the country for voters and MPs alike. Health has remained fairly stable in second place for the public but was overtaken by rising concerns over immigration and asylum in April 2025. Relative issue importance of the environment rose to a peak in April 2023 among the public, but has steadily decreased since. Among MPs, health and housing have often been a top 3 issues, but were overtaken by defence and security for the first time in April 2025 since we started polling.
In the lead up to the 2024 General Election, the issues most affecting people’s decision to vote were the cost of living, health, the economy, immigration and asylum, with environment and climate change in fifth place (19%). The issue of climate was more important to some than others: 39% of those who switched their vote from Labour to the Lib Dems or Greens indicated that the environment and climate was important to their vote.
For non-voters, the most important issues to them in the weeks before the election were the same, although with greater emphasis on the cost of living and less on the environment and climate change.
MPs tend to underestimate the role that climate played in for voters – only 8% of MPs thought that the environment and climate would play a role in people’s votes.
Despite an all-encompassing cost of living crisis and course changes on both sides of the political spectrum since polling started in December 2022, the British public continue to support the net zero target by 2050.
After holding steady for many months, public support for net zero jumped to its highest level in 18 months straight after the 2024 General Election, rising particularly among Conservative voters, before returning to pre-election levels, with a slight downward trend. And while MP support for net zero fell prior to the election, Labour’s landslide 2024 election win bumped net zero support numbers to well over 80% among MPs; however, as with the general public, this support shows small signs of waning.
The majority of the public (just over 50%) can identify the correct definition of the term ‘net zero’, whilst about 1 in 3 select the wrong definition.
Renewables remain highly popular across the political spectrum. Support for clean energy remains consistently high over time, especially wind and solar although this support is underestimated. Most people support renewables even when proposed to be built in their area, but this support isn’t unconditional (and early community engagement is crucial).
A majority of Brits believe renewables, not fossil fuels, are the best way of building the country’s energy security. Pluralities among the public and MPs believe that the renewables and clean tech sector shows the biggest growth opportunity for the UK in the next five years, only surpassed by artificial intelligence as of April 2025.
Public support for new pylons and power lines for carrying renewable energy has remained stable at about 60%, but both public and MP estimates of this support are much lower than actual support (see the perception gaps thread for more on this).
Energy sources most favoured by MPs include offshore wind, solar and onshore wind, while coal, oil and natural gas are viewed much less favourably.
Climate change isn’t a major dividing line for voters: most people want more, not less action on climate. Both the general public and MPs are most likely to say that the government should be doing more to address climate change.
The public have maintained a steady level of support for the UK being ‘one of the most ambitious countries in the world when it comes to addressing climate change, regardless of what other countries are doing’. Britons are more likely to say that the cost of not acting is greater than the cost of acting on climate, whilst fewer think that other things should take priority now.
Since the 2024 General Election, the public show some signs of dropping slightly on these measures – possibly due to higher expectations of climate action from the new government.
When it comes to causes for the high costs of energy bills, the British public is most likely to think that the privatisation of energy companies, a failure to reform the energy market and prioritisation of energy companies interests are primarily responsible.
Many key planks of net zero are broadly supported by the public, including ramping up renewables, incentives for landlords to install insulation, a tax on frequent flyers and the moratorium on fracking remaining in place.
Voters are sensitive to the costs of climate policies, as they are for all policies. Support is lower if everyone is expected to pay for the cost of polices, regardless of income. But opposition is practical, not ideological: support can be built through ensuring that green policies are fairer to those on lower incomes.
Tackling misconceptions is important where people have concerns about the impacts of climate policies on their lives. Support for phasing out the sale of new petrol & diesel vehicles has gradually nudged into opposition. But when it is emphasised that the second hand market will continue, more people think the policy ‘wont impact them at all’, and support for the policy increases.
There is a window of opportunity to build trust and raise support around policies like Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. Despite being portrayed as divisive, support remains higher than opposition for low traffic neighbourhoods, and many say they don’t know or are undecided, suggesting support can be built with the right engagement approaches.
Many anti-net zero arguments either land badly, or not at all. The vast majority haven’t heard of anti-net zero narratives like ‘net zero policies will make us colder and poorer’, or ‘we can either fix the climate or fix the economy’, or of misinformation about 15 minute cities. Reform UK voters are a slight exception to the latter, but overall only a small percentage of Reform UK voters have heard of this. Another recent emergence is the idea that it was “impossible” for the UK to reach net zero by 2050, which 1 in 3 Brits have heard and agree with, despite the target’s base in clear scientific evidence.
People are more likely to have heard and agree with some of the key arguments made for climate action, such as the idea that ‘climate change is a threat to people and our way of life’ or ‘Together, the richest 1% of people in the world emit twice as much carbon as the poorest 50% combined’. However, their cut-through is still limited and some are starting to show signs of waning agreement among the public.
