Immigration has returned to the top of the list of issues worrying the British public, according to the May 2026 Ipsos Issues Index.
Some 41 per cent of those surveyed named immigration as an important issue facing the country, up nine points since April and back to the level recorded earlier in the year.
It also remained the single biggest issue facing Britain, mentioned by 22 per cent of respondents.
The economy came second, cited by 34 per cent, a figure that has barely shifted over the past month. Inflation followed in third place on 25 per cent, down five points since April.
The National Health Service (NHS) was the fourth-biggest concern, named by 22 per cent, while worry about defence and foreign affairs fell 10 points to 15 per cent.
Concern about immigration was sharply uneven across the population. It was highest among supporters of the right-wing Reform UK party, at 83 per cent, followed by those aged 55 and over (52 per cent) and people in lower social grades (47 per cent).
The poll also pointed to deep gloom about the economy. Ipsos’ Economic Optimism Index found that 9 per cent of Britons thought the economy would improve over the next 12 months, against 73 per cent who expected it to get worse.
That produced a net score of -64, an improvement on the record low of -72 recorded the previous month though still far below the long-term average of -18.
Ipsos said the figure was as poor as during some of the worst economic periods of recent decades, including the 1980 recession, the 2008 financial crisis and the cost-of-living crisis that followed the invasion of Ukraine.
It added that net economic optimism, measured 22 months into Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s time in office, was the lowest on record for any prime minister at that stage.
Gideon Skinner, Senior Director of UK Politics at Ipsos, said immigration had regained “its prime position” in the public’s list of worries, though Britons remained “very gloomy about the economy”.
He said attention had turned to the coming by-election in Makerfield, in northwest England, where local views broadly reflected the national picture.
Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,003 adults aged 18 and over across Great Britain by telephone between May 6-12, 2026. The answers were spontaneous and respondents were not prompted.
