How many UK conservatives support the monarchy
Executive summary
Two major British social-attitude trackers put support for the monarchy among Conservative supporters between roughly four in five and nine in ten: the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) reports 82% of Conservative supporters want to keep the monarchy (BSA) [1] [2], while YouGov trackers have recently recorded about 89–91% of Conservative voters saying the monarchy is “good for Britain” and should continue [3]. Poll numbers vary by question wording, timing and sample [1] [3], but every source provided shows Conservatives as the most consistently pro-monarchy group in British politics [1] [2] [3].
1. Conservative supporters: the headline numbers and why they differ
The clearest single figure from the British Social Attitudes programme is that 82% of self-identified Conservative supporters said they wanted to keep the monarchy (NatCen’s reporting of the BSA) [1] [2], while longitudinal and commercial trackers such as YouGov have recently reported even higher positivity—around 89–91% among Conservative voters asserting the monarchy is good for Britain and should continue [3]; this discrepancy reflects different survey questions (importance vs. “good for Britain”), different samples (party supporters vs. likely voters) and timing around high-profile royal events that temporarily shift answers [1] [2] [3].
2. Context: Conservatives remain the most monarchist political group
Multiple sources show a clear political divide: Conservative supporters are the staunchest backers of the monarchy compared with Labour, Green and other party supporters—NatCen notes Conservatives at roughly 82% for keeping the monarchy versus Labour supporters roughly split [1] [2], and YouGov shows Conservatives far more positive than other voters in late‑2025 tracking [3]; these data together underline that “Conservatives” (understood here as people who identify with or vote Conservative) are the single most monarchy-friendly constituency in the UK [1] [3].
3. Party identity, history and the caveats beneath the headline
Historically the Tory/Conservative tradition has been closely associated with monarchism and the preservation of traditional institutions, and modern party literature and analyses still link the Conservatives to defence of tradition—even as the party’s emphases have shifted over decades [4] [5] [6] [7]. However, none of the provided sources give a precise, current percentage for Conservative Party members, MPs or elected officials specifically; the cited figures refer to Conservative supporters or voters in public-opinion polling, not necessarily party membership or parliamentary caucuses [1] [3]. That distinction matters but is not resolvable from the supplied material.
4. Trends, dissent and organised republicanism
Public support for the monarchy has declined overall since the 1980s, and although Conservatives remain strongly pro-monarchy, the broader national trend is downward—from very high majorities in the 1980s to much smaller pluralities in the 2020s—so the Conservative lead is partly a relative effect [1] [2]. There is also organised republican pressure—groups such as Republic explicitly campaign to abolish the monarchy and replace it with an elected head of state [8]—and public debate includes conservative intellectuals who treat the monarchy as symbolic or contest its political role [9] [7]. The supplied sources show both strong Conservative majorities in favour and active republican voices, but they do not provide a breakdown of how many Conservative MPs or party officials personally favour abolition.
5. What the figures mean and what they don’t show
In short: about four in five Conservative supporters (NatCen/BSA: 82%) and up to nine in ten Conservative voters (YouGov: ~89–91%) express support for the monarchy in recent polls [1] [2] [3]. What cannot be concluded from the provided reporting is the exact share of elected Conservatives who privately favour republicanism, or how durable support will be under future royal controversies—those finer-grained counts and causal trajectories are not contained in the supplied sources [1] [3] [8].