Free speech concerns may shape next election vote, Liberty poll finds

Three in five people surveyed by More in Common said a political party’s position on free speech would affect how they vote at the next general election. The poll of 2,017 people in Great Britain was commissioned by the human rights organisation Liberty and conducted from 11 to 15 September.

Liberty said the results suggested Labour’s approach to free speech could cost it votes. The poll summary does not establish that respondents plan to leave Labour, but it found concern about the effects of recent policies and political rhetoric.

Two in five respondents said arrests of people holding signs in support of proscribed group Palestine Action had harmed free speech; one in five said the arrests had helped it. Views were also divided on expanded police powers to restrict protests, with about a third seeing those powers positively and a similar share negatively.

The Crime and Policing Act, which received royal assent in April, expanded police powers to impose conditions on protests, including consideration of the cumulative impact of repeated demonstrations in an area. Palestine Action was proscribed in July 2025, and the Supreme Court is due to hear an appeal against the ban in November.

Liberty director Akiko Hart urged the government to change course towards a principled defence of free speech. The Home Office said the government protects freedom of speech and peaceful protest, while drawing a clear line at unlawful conduct, including inciting hatred or violence and supporting proscribed organisations.