Why Brits don’t like Trump: ‘It's not even about his politics’
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The US election is hard to call, with both candidates polling equally with voters. But in the UK, an overwhelming number of people would never vote for Donald Trump.
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In brief…
- UK polling shows that up to 61% of British people would never vote for Donald Trump.
- The News Agents say this is as much to do with his “unBritish” personality as much as it is his politics.
- They say this also shows how disconnected the current Tory party has become from the political stance of much of the UK public.
What’s the story?
British people obviously don’t get to vote in the US election, but if they did, it would almost certainly be game over already for Donald Trump.
Recent polling suggests 61% of Brits wouldn’t vote for the Republican nominee, according to YouGov, while Ipsos polling shows a slightly slimmer lead for Kamala Harris.
Polls from the US show a very different situation, with Trump and Harris constantly running at 50% apiece when it comes to American voters.
So while Donald Trump’s campaign is clearly winning over huge numbers of the voters that actually matter in this campaign, why is his divisive rhetoric falling flat with the Brits?
Why do the Tories like Donald Trump, but British people don't?
Why don’t the Brits like Trump?
British people, Jon Sopel says, “love to love” a US president, but he adds that this comes with certain conditions – they can’t be too American for our tastes.
“We love the US presidents that feel sort of European rather than American,” Jon says.
“Obama felt European – so that's nice. George W Bush felt very American.”
Lewis says Trump's approach to politics – and indeed his entire personality is “so unBritish” that we struggle to warm to a man who claims migrants are eating cats and that the Democratic Party is responsible for hurricanes hitting Republican states.
“He's so showy. He's so flash,” says Lewis.
“There is nothing remotely understated about him, and that is very American.
“It is just the sort of thing that puts British people on edge. So, in a way, it's not even about his politics – I mean, it's partly about his politics – but it's more about his personality.”
He adds that the average British person thinks Trump is a “mad blowout”.
Do British politicians feel different to the rest of the public?
Kwasi Kwarteng, former Chancellor of the Exchequer in Liz Truss’s doomed Tory government, recently told The News Agents he would vote for Trump if he had to make a choice on 5 November.
And he’s not the only Conservative figure who’s backed the former president for a White House return.
Robert Jenrick, one of the final two candidates in the running to become the next Tory leader, has said he would also vote for Trump over Harris.
Boris Johnson has said that Trump returning to power could be "what the world needs".
Lewis says this highlights how “far removed” the Conservatives have become from the feelings of the British public.
Since Labour won the 2024 election, there has been much discussion about the future stance of the Tory party. People such as Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch want to take the party further to the right, while others – such as former defence secretary Grant Schapps – believe the only place the party can regain power from is the centre-right.
“It's just a little example of the extent to which Conservative Party opinion has become quite eccentric from where most British people are, because most British people don't think much of the guy,” Lewis adds.
“They thought that in 2016, they thought it in 2020, they still think it now.
“They probably think it even more now.”
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