It is often said that young people reject traditional ideas of Britishness. Recent findings complicate this.
The John Smith Centre’s UK Youth Poll 2026 asked about the importance of British ancestry for being ‘truly British’ and found a striking age divide. Among 16- to 17-year-olds, only 23% said ancestry is fairly or very important. Among 25- to 29-year-olds, that figure rose to 53%. More than half of older young people say having British ancestry matters. This challenges the simple story of a civic, inclusive younger generation, and has real implications for how politicians talk about identity and belonging.
MORE TRADITIONAL AS THEY AGE? NO
The 2024 British Social Attitudes survey found 39% of adults agreed with the statement, fewer than in the UK Youth Poll, suggesting either the respondents here are more exclusionary, or there’s been a wider shift since 2023 . A 2025 IPPR report of a YouGov Poll showed that the proportion who believe Britishness is based on ancestry has almost doubled since 2023. The UK Youth Poll 2026 may reflect this wider change.
Inglehart and Abramson’s theory of generational replacement offers a potential explanation. It argues that the economic conditions you grow up with shape your values for life. Economic security fosters postmaterialist values like openness and civic identity. Economic insecurity fosters materialist values like stability, desire for borders, and in-group preferences.
The generation answering the UK Youth Poll 2026 came of age during the 2008 financial crash, Brexit, Trump era protectionism, wars, and resource conflicts. The poll showed bread and butter concerns such as housing and employment were priorities. Strikingly, when focus group participants were asked what kept them awake at night, financial concerns dominated across the groups, consistent with a materialist shift.
“I just know I’m never going to be able to buy a house”
Another possible explanation is lifecycle effects. As people get older and take on real world responsibilities like rent, bills, jobs, and housing, they naturally start worrying more about material security. When young people leave home they may face those pressures for the first time, possibly explaining this more exclusive view of ‘Britishness’.
There may also be an interplay of generational and lifecycle effects. This generation may be more materialist due to the economic insecurity in their formative years. Education and parents, however, can shield young people from financial concerns. It could be that once they leave home, those protections fall away.
Overall, the prioritisation of ancestry is consistent with a materialist shift, with the older age group showing the most consistently materialist value system rather than the postmaterialist focus on more inclusive elements of Britishness.
WHY ANCESTRY?
Intergroup threat theory shows that those facing economic insecurity and competition for basic necessities can experience unconscious in-group bias meaning they favour their own ethnic group more. This may lead more young people to view Britishness through these more traditional lenses.
IS IT JUST THE 'LEFT BEHIND'?
Many argue that those with more ethnically-orientated views of Britishness tend to be part of the ‘left behind’ group, such as those on lower incomes, the working class, less educated, and less likely to live in urban areas. The UK Youth Poll data complicates this. The highest agreement with the idea that ancestry matters actually came from the highest income brackets and those with degrees. However, the number of participants in the highest income group was extremely small, so drawing firm conclusions is difficult. There seems to be a slight increase as participants earn more and have a degree. One possible explanation is that those with the highest earnings currently pay more in tax and may have been more impacted by the pandemic and economic issues, fuelling more materialist views than those on lower incomes. But future studies would need to evaluate whether these are genuine connections or simply unrelated factors. Either way, simplistic ‘left behind’ explanations don’t quite fit.
JUST REFORM VOTERS?
Whilst, across all ages, Reform UK voters were most likely to agree that ancestry matters at 69%, Labour was not far behind at 51% and Conservative at 43%, Your Party at 44%, and Liberal Democrats at 36%. Only Green Party voters stood significantly apart, at 27%, meaning a sizeable minority of mainstream party supporters think ancestry matters for being ‘truly British’.
WHY IS LABOUR SO HIGH?
The poll found Labour identifiers placed themselves centre right, not centre left, on values questions. Meanwhile, the rise of the Greens may have drawn traditionally left voters away, leaving a more centrist, traditional group of Labour supporters behind and possibly explaining the convergence of mainstream parties with this view of Britishness.
Either way, this shows that a majority or near majority of young voters across most major parties think British ancestry matters. This is not simply a fringe or far right position.
END OF INCLUSIVE VIEWS OF BRITISHNESS? POLL SAYS NO.
Despite these findings, young people have not abandoned civic Britishness. The poll found that 86% say respecting institutions is is an important part of ‘being truly British.’ 85% say speaking English matters. 76% say holding citizenship matters. Civic views remain dominant, however young people are not becoming more open as they age. They hold civic and ethnic views at the same time. This complicates simple stories about a postmaterialist society, showing a need for reprioritisation of housing and employment policies, alongside honest conversations about identity and belonging.
The UK Youth Poll 2026 finding that a majority of 25- to 29-year-olds say British ancestry matters for being truly British is of political importance. This view is not confined to the far right, but shared by many Labour, Conservative, and Reform voters alike. However, these figures reflect a wider increase since 2023, showing things can change very quickly and the future of British identity is not fixed. But this poll sends a clear message to politicians and policymakers. Ignoring the rise in traditional, ancestry based views of Britishness or assuming that young people are uniformly civic, inclusive, and postmaterialist is a mistake. If politicians want to speak to this generation, they need to address the economic insecurity that underpins this shift alongside fostering real conversation about what binds the country together; what belonging truly means. The data is clear. The question is whether anyone is listening.
Lillie Parker recently graduated from the University of Glasgow with a Degree in Sociology and Social and Public Policy. Her research interests include political socialisation, participation among under-represented groups, educational sociology and policy, populism, and political psychology.
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