YouGov has just published the results of a survey (pdf) into British attitudes to a foreigner taking the helm at the Bank of England. The new Governor, Mark Carney, is a Canadian, and so the first question was:
Do you think it is acceptable or unacceptable for a Canadian citizen to be made Governor of the Bank of England?
A fairly enthusiastic 68% of Lib Dem supporters think this choice ‘acceptable’. Not terribly surprisingly UKIP supporters are most opposed to this idea, at 44%, although Labour voters are also sceptical (47%).
Supporters of all four surveyed parties are markedly less enthusiastic about the prospect of a US Governor of the Bank of England. Anti-Americanism seems to get the better of the Lib Dems’ internationalist outlook – for only their supporters would prefer a German to a US Governor.
Can you guess, without looking, which country the British seem to view with least favour, particularly if they support UKIP?
Update Apologies – I had not realized there were continuation pages, and that other countries were in fact less popular than France! Like Gene, I was interested in the results relating to Israel. As UKIP voters seem consistently most xenosceptic I am not terribly surprised that they are the most opposed to an Israeli Governor. But I was surprised to find out that Lib Dems were the most sympathetic at 35% to Labour’s 24%. The most surprising result was the very low level of support from Conservative supporters – just 19%. Although, when I reflect back on some unedifying minutes I’ve spent below the line at the Telegraph, maybe it’s not so *very* surprising.
Hat Tip: @BritishFuture