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The Political Quarterly
Articles

Perceptions and Reality: Ten Things We Should Know About Attitudes to Immigration in the UK

BOBBY DUFFY

Managing Director, Social Research Institute, Ipsos MORI and Visiting Senior Research Fellow, King's College London.

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First published: 28 October 2014
Cited by: 4

Abstract

Immigration is one of the most frequently covered issues in opinion surveys—but the volume and type of questions asked has actually obscured many of the key facts about our attitudes. This article summarises a year‐long project to draw together as much of the published polling as possible in one place, in as neutral a way as possible. The overall picture is one of genuine concern about immigration among a large proportion of the population—but more nuance on specific aspects, and a number of important gaps between perceptions and reality. Also highlighted are the increasingly polarised views on immigration between generations and different class and education groupings. The lower level of concern among younger generations and the growing graduate class suggests that immigration may be less of a concern in the future—but that the electoral weight of the more concerned older generations means that restrictive rhetoric and policy on immigration will be a key feature of the 2015 general election.

Number of times cited: 4

  • , Beyond New Labour, Labour's Immigration Policy, 10.1007/978-3-319-64692-3_8, (219-241), (2017).
  • , Introduction: The Puzzle of Managed Migration, Labour's Immigration Policy, 10.1007/978-3-319-64692-3_1, (1-19), (2017).
  • , “The Wall was Too High”: the Four Predicaments of Mr Miliband, Revue française de civilisation britannique, XX-3, XX-3, (2015).
  • , Mehr Zuwanderer, mehr Fremdenangst? Ein Überblick über den Forschungsstand und ein Erklärungsversuch aktueller Entwicklungen in Deutschland, Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 25, 4, (397), (2015).