Britons don’t tend to support the death penalty… until you name the worst crimes

The last execution in the UK took place in August 1964, and the death penalty has been abolished in the UK for over 50 years. Nevertheless, there are still numerous petitions for the government to bring back the death penalty, and YouGov data reveals many Britons support capital punishment.

Our survey shows that four in 10 (40%) Britons support the death penalty, with half (50%) opposed and 10% unsure.

Conservative voters are much more likely to support the death penalty (58% support, 34% oppose) than Labour voters (23% support, 66% oppose). Britons aged over 65 are also more than twice as likely as those aged 18-24 to back the death penalty, by 54% to 22%.

Men are slightly more likely than women to support the death penalty, by 44% to 39%, but women are no more or less likely to oppose the death penalty than men (51% of women oppose, compared to 48% of men, which is within margin of error).

However, when asked about the death penalty for specific crimes, Britons are more likely than not to support for death penalty for the murder of a child, murders committed as part of a terrorist act and cases of multiple murder. They do not, however, support the death penalty being applied to all cases of murder.

See full results here