Ukip supporters grossly overestimate the number of immigrants living in Britain
There are half as many immigrants living in Britain as Ukip supporters think
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukip supporters mistakenly believe that there are twice as many foreign-born people living in the UK than there are in reality, according to a new survey.
Researchers at Ipsos MORI asked supporters of different political parties what proportion of the UK’s population was foreign born.
Of all the parties, people planning to vote Ukip were the most wrong, guessing that on average 25% of the UK’s population was born in another country.
The actual figure is around 13%, meaning Ukip supporters’ estimate was nearly 100% out of sync with reality.
Supporters of all parties overestimated the number, though not by as much as Ukip voters.
Liberal Democrat and Green voters guessed closet to the truth, suggesting around 16% of the UK’s population was born abroad.
Labour and SNP voters guessed around 20%, while Conservatives said 21%.
A poll by YouGov in February found that around half of Ukip voters were prepared to describe themselves as “prejudiced against people of other races” to some extent.
The party’s leader Nigel Farage has spoken previously of how he thinks Britain appears as “a foreign land” because of migration.
“In scores of our cities and market towns, this country in a short space of time has frankly become unrecognisable,” Mr Farage told his audience at a speech last year in Torquay.
“Whether it is the impact on local schools and hospitals, whether it is the fact in many parts of England you don't hear English spoken any more. This is not the kind of community we want to leave to our children and grandchildren.”
He also cited discomfort at hearing foreign languages spoken in public places, saying he thought “the majority” of British people agreed with him.
Rising support for Ukip in recent has been driven by anti-immigration sentiment with Ukip supporters regularly recorded as more concerned about migration issues than other groups in polls.
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