King's College London

The Lib Dems are the party most liked by their political rivals, according to a new study published ahead of the party’s annual conference in Brighton.

The research, by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, finds rival parties’ supporters rate their warmth towards Lib Dem voters at 39 out of 100 – four points higher than Labour voters, who rank second, with 35.¹

Reform UK supporters are viewed most coldly by their rivals, with a rating of 20.

The Lib Dems are also seen by their opponents as the least uncaring party: 33% of rival supporters think Lib Dem voters don't care about people like them, and 36% say the same of the party’s leaders – the lowest figures of any party, with the Greens next best on both counts (voters, 43%; leaders, 42%).

The Greens have a particularly favourable view of the Lib Dems: 43% of the party’s supporters say Lib Dem voters are driven mostly by concern and care for people like them – a higher proportion than the share of Lib Dem supporters themselves who say the same (36%).

By contrast, nearly three in 10 (28%) Reform supporters feel Lib Dem voters are instead driven mostly by dislike of people like them – the highest of any political group who feel this way.

But the positivity from other parties translates into the Lib Dems being the most popular overall choice for tactical votes from supporters of their rivals. Labour supporters name the Lib Dems (35%) as their joint top alternative pick with the Greens (33%), while the Lib Dems are also second choice for Green and Conservative supporters.

However, the party is seen as virtually last resort for those who back Reform, just 5% of whom say they’d consider voting tactically for the Lib Dems – on a par with Labour (7%) and Greens (7%).

Meanwhile, Lib Dem supporters themselves are more likely to say they’d vote tactically for Labour (32%), ahead of the Green party (27%).

The study, based on a nationally representative survey of 3,750 UK adults carried out between 7 and 13 August with Opinium, also finds that, while the public have an accurate view of Lib Dem support on issues like rejoining the EU and giving private companies a bigger role in the NHS, they misperceive how Lib Dem supporters feel about several key policy issues:

• Just 11% of Lib Dems agree the number of immigrants coming to Britain should be increased, yet the public’s median guess is that more than double this proportion of Lib Dem supporters – 25% – hold this view. Lib Dem supporters themselves also overestimate how much support exists for this among their own party’s base, guessing that 24% agree.
• The public overestimate the share of Lib Dem supporters who think the UK should send far fewer people to prison than it does today, guessing 36% against a reality of 21%. Green party supporters (41%) have the most inflated view of Lib Dem supporters backing for this.
• The public guess 36% of Lib Dem supporters would agree Britain should spend more on defence, even if it means less money for other public services – but in reality, 46% do. Green supporters in particular assume Lib Dem supporters are much less supportive of greater defence spending than they actually are, guessing 27% would agree.
• 11% of Lib Dem supporters agree the UK should keep taxes on wealthy people as low as possible, yet the public guess double this share (22%) would feel this way.

Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, said:

“Supporters of rival parties tend to view the Lib Dems and their leadership with more warmth, as more caring, and as more viable tactical voting option than other parties – except Reform supporters, just 5% of whom say they’d consider voting Lib Dem. This positive external image is based on a relatively accurate picture of what Lib Dem voters actually think on key policy areas – although people tend to think they are more in favour of increased migration and sending fewer people to prison than they really are, while they underestimate just how many Lib Dems are actually in favour of increased defence spending.”

Study details
1. Rival party scores are calculated by averaging the results for supporters of opposing major parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and Reform). This gives each rival party equal weight and should not be interpreted as the views of all non-supporters combined.

Fieldwork was carried out by Opinium across 7-13 August 2026, consisting of a nationally representative sample of 3,750 UK adults aged 18+ weighted by age, gender, education, region, ethnicity, working status, political attention, 2024 GE vote, 2016 EU vote in order to reflect the profile of the UK population.

This research was funded through the Policy Institute’s own internal research budget, as part of a wider programme of work around the 2026 party conference season. No external funders commissioned or contributed financially to the study.