Public turns against higher taxes and spending as political divisions deepen

Public support for higher taxes and increased public spending has fallen sharply, while political divisions over the role of the state have widened to levels not previously seen, according to new findings from the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey published today by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen).

The findings suggest the public has begun to react against the expansion of the state that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside a growing polarisation in attitudes across key areas of public policy.

Declining support for higher taxes and spending

• Just over a third (36%) of the public now say the government should increase taxes and spend more on health, education and welfare, the lowest level since 2013
• Support for increased taxation and spending has fallen by 19 percentage points since 2022
• A record-high 19% now say taxes and spending should be reduced, more than double the proportion recorded in 2022 (8%)

A widening political divide

• Attitudes towards taxation and spending are now more sharply divided by party support
• Just 21% of Conservative and Reform supporters favour higher taxes and spending, compared with 52% of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters
• Nearly three in ten (29%) Conservative and Reform supporters now back reducing taxes and spending, compared with just one in ten (10%) among Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters

Welfare priorities shift

• Support for increased spending on welfare benefits for the poor has fallen to 27%, matching the lowest level ever recorded
• Public support for increased spending on retirement pensions has fallen markedly over the past two decades
• In 2006, 61% of the public said retirement pensions should be the highest priority for additional benefits spending, by 2025, this had dropped to just 34%
• By contrast, support for higher spending on child benefits and benefits for disabled people is now at record levels, indicating a shift in public priorities

Polarisation extends beyond economic policy

• Public attitudes towards immigration have become more sceptical following recent record levels of migration
• In 2022, 50% thought migrants were good for Britain’s economy, while the same proportion felt they enriched the country’s cultural life, in 2025 the equivalent figure in both cases is just 32%
• Views are now more politically polarised than in the early 2010s, with stark differences between supporters of Conservative and Reform and those backing Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties
• However, overall attitudes towards immigration remain less negative than they were a decade ago

Alex Scholes, Research Director at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), said:

“After several years in which the size of the state has expanded, public opinion has begun to shift. Support for reducing levels of taxation and spending has never been higher and attitudes towards welfare spending have become more sceptical. Meanwhile, divisions between different groups of voters on these issues and others, such as immigration, have only become more pronounced.”