Polling expert: No ‘public consent’ for assisted suicide

Polling expert James Johnson has said that the British public has turned against legalising medically assisted suicide, all within the space of just five years.

Writing for The Telegraph, Johnson recalled polling conducted in 2021 by his own organisation, JL Partners, that suggested 72 per cent of the country supported the controversial practice, with just nine per cent opposing.

That research also suggested greater support for the policy amongst supporters of the Conservative Party and a high degree of religion in safeguards aimed toward stopping abuses of any assisted suicide law.

Fast forward to 2026 and Johnson says there isn’t any “public consent” for an assisted suicide law. This, he argues, shouldn’t be as a consequence of a fundamental shift in values, but as a consequence of the loss of religion that folks have in any potential safeguards.

While the British public remain sympathetic to the concept that a terminally sick person should give you the option to finish their very own life, there are huge concerns about Kim Leadbeater’s bill that recently stalled within the House of Lords. 

More recent polling by JL Partners suggests that two thirds of those that support assisted suicide in principle want more safeguards in place for any potential bill, 72 per cent say eligibility for assisted suicide have to be strictly defined, and 78 per cent say that those searching for assisted suicide must be actively offered alternatives, comparable to hospice care.

Just 18 per cent said that a one who has only just received a terminal diagnosis should give you the option to request assisted suicide without first undergoing an intensive assessment.

The polling also suggests concern in regards to the wide scope of eligibility as proposed by the bill in Westminster. The bill would have allowed pregnant women, individuals with eating disorders, mental health problems, suicidal thoughts, and homeless people, to hunt assisted suicide, something the overwhelming majority of individuals oppose.

Johnson said, “The only version of assisted dying with anything near the degrees of support seen in 2021 is one limited to those terminally sick people experiencing unbearable physical pain – not a requirement of the bill. The public only support a bill unrecognisable from its current state.”