The research showed that the UK public has more liberal views on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, but were less likely to see diversity as a strength compared with the US public.

In the UK, 86% of people think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 63% in the US, and 92% in the UK think contraception being widely available is good for society, compared with 78% in the US.

Same-sex marriage was backed by 59% of the UK public, compared with 34% in the US.

Both countries had similar views on whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth ( 65% in the UK and 66% in the US).

However, on immigration, 42% of the UK thought immigrants staying without permission should be deported, compared with 33% in the US.

Just under half ( 49%) of the UK felt that the country’s openness to people from around the world is essential to national identity, versus 63% in the US, while 64% of Americans felt that diversity strengthens society, with 49% of the UK agreeing.

Four in 10 people in the UK felt that the proportion of white people in the country declining as a share of the overall population was bad for society, versus 22% in the US.

There were also different attitudes to the size of the state, with the UK far more supportive of a bigger government providing more services ( 67%) compared with 48% in the US.

People in the UK were also more positive about free trade, with 65% in favour of free trade agreements versus 39% in the US.

The UK and US were politically most divided about different issues, with immigration and multiculturalism more polarising in the UK and the deepest divides in the US being related to abortion, same-sex marriage and the size of the state.

For example, Donald Trump supporters were 84% in favour of a small government versus 54% of Reform voters, while 82% of Reform voters are in favour of legal abortion against 35% of those in favour of Trump.

Reform voters were more likely than Trump supports to say immigrants staying in the country without permission should not be allowed to stay ( 79% versus 70%), but were more in favour of free trade agreements ( 64% versus 31%).

UK fieldwork was carried out between 26^th June and 27^th July online and over the telephone using the NatCen Opinion Panel, with 2,083 invited to take part.

Data for the US population was taken from a survey by Pew Research Centre via its American Trends Panel, with data collected between 8^th and 14^th April and 8,709 panellists taking part. Additional data was taken from the American National Election Studies 2024 Time Series Study, both pre- and post-election.

Alex Scholes, research director at NatCen, said: “The idea that Britain is more socially liberal than America doesn’t hold up across all issues.  While the UK is clearly more liberal on questions to do with family, sexuality and religion, attitudes to immigration and diversity show the opposite pattern.

“Our findings suggest that polarisation in the two countries looks very different. In the UK, the sharpest divides are around immigration and national identity, in the US they’re around social issues and the role of government. These differences will shape political debate on both sides in the years to come.”