A new survey has revealed a significant drop in British national pride over the past decade, alongside a crash in support for the BBC.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Support for the state-backed British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom has tanked amid cratering national pride in Britain, according to a new report. 📺 DETAIL: According to a new poll commissioned by Demos, a non-partisan British think tank, only 47 percent of Britons are proud of their country in 2026, a stark drop from the 74 percent recorded in 2011. The collapse in national pride coincides with declining support for national institutions and symbols, such as the British flag, the monarchy, the legal system, the armed forces, and the BBC. Among the British institutions and symbols covered in the survey, the BBC has suffered the largest collapse in support from 2011 to 2026, dropping from a net approval of 48 percent to -11 percent. This means that the BBC has become as unpopular as Britain’s Parliament, which also has a net approval of -11 percent. Net approval of the monarchy has dropped from 54 percent to 25 percent, and pride in British history also declined from 65 percent to 39 percent, while pride in Britain’s place in the world dropped from 35 percent to just 13 percent. The poll surveyed 2,235 adults between 19 and 20 April. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “Our research shows that Britain hasn’t stopped feeling proud. People still feel deep pride in the places they live and the communities around them. What has eroded is their confidence in Britain as a whole. When people lose that sense of shared ownership over what makes Britain great, trust breaks down and our politics becomes more fragmented,” said Polly Curtis, CEO of Demos. 🎯 IMPACT: The findings underscore the growing disconnect between Britons and their country’s institutions. The collapse in support for the BBC among Britons, who must fund the politically biased public broadcaster through a compulsory television license fee, stands out in particular. This reflects similar trends uncovered earlier this year. Back in July, it was reported that TV license sales had dropped by over 500,000 last year. |
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