In this paper Parliament Street’s James Downes, stresses that immigration must be pushed to the top of the Conservative Party’s issue agenda, if they are to meet the growing concerns of public opinion.

Drawing on recent polling data from YouGov and the Eurobarometer survey, James Downes from Parliament Street analyses the evolution of immigration as a core public opinion issue since the 2005 British General Election.

The article discusses European polling trends which show how the salience of immigration has increased across the European Union from 2007-2013. The article then examines the political saliency of immigration and its implications for the general election in May in outlining the threat that UKIP poses to the political establishment.

The article concludes by outlining that David Cameron and the Conservative Party must devise a coherent and credible immigration strategy which can wrestle control of the immigration issue away from UKIP in the run up to the General Election.

Read the paper here

James Downes has worked in market research for YouGov and as a Policy Intern at a Think Tank in Hong Kong on Chinese Immigration Policy. James is currently reading for a PhD in Comparative European Politics at the University of Kent and works as an Assistant Lecturer in Politics and International Relations.

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