British Public Divided on Oil and Gas Expansion

In a new blog post at UK in a Changing Europe, we examine public opinion in Britain towards issuing licenses to permit new oil and gas extraction, a proposal currently being pursued by the present Conservative government. This is based on findings from a representative national survey of 2,002 adults we fielded in November/December 2023.

We show that the public - while largely in favour of prioritising a renewable energy transition -  are divided on oil and gas expansion. These divisions map onto voting preferences, with those intending to vote for the Conservatives and Reform being more supportive of the measure, and those intending on voting for Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and the Greens being more opposed to it.

The full analysis can be read here.