Londoners overwhelmingly viewed Joe Biden as the legitimate winner of the US presidential election (80 per cent) according to the latest survey from the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London, but differences are apparent.
According to the survey, conducted by YouGov, 96 per cent of Labour voters view the US election outcome as legitimate compared with 74 per cent of Conservative voters.
Dr Richard Johnson, Lecturer in US Politics and Policy at Queen Mary said: “These findings suggest that about one in four Conservative in the capital are not prepared to take mainstream news reporting at ‘face value’ and may be drawing on alternative sources of information, including from President Trump himself.”
As a whole, more than half of Londoners were happy with Biden’s victory (58 per cent) although nearly a quarter (26 per cent) were said to be ‘not bothered’.
There were differences along political party lines with 40 per cent of London Conservatives ‘not bothered’ compared to 82 per cent of Labour voters in London who were either ‘happy’ or ‘very happy’ with the result.
Almost one in five Conservative voters (19 per cent) were either ‘unhappy’ or ‘very unhappy’ with Biden’s victory whilst hardly any Labour voters (just one per cent) expressed that view.
Views on Brexit also appeared to influence how the US election was viewed with 90 per cent of people who voted Remain believing that Biden’s victory was legitimate compared with 69 per cent of people who voted Leave.
Four out of five Remain voters were happy with Biden’s victory (80 per cent) compared to just over a third of people who voted Leave (38 per cent). Nearly a quarter of Leave voters (26 per cent) believed that Biden’s presidency will be worse for the UK than if Trump were to be re-elected, compared to only eight per cent of people who voted Remain.
Dr Richard Johnson added: “Overall, these results show reasonably high enthusiasm for Biden from left-of-centre Londoners, whereas a much more mixed picture from right-of-centre residents of the capital has emerged.”
Fieldwork was conducted online between 16 and 19 November 2020. Total sample size was 1,048 adults living in inner and outer London. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in London (aged 18+). YouGov is a member of the British Polling Council and abide by their rules.
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