Public opinion on assisted dying

Overwhelming public support for law change

The latest polling, an in-depth Citizens’ Jury and 20 years of British Social Attitudes data all show the same picture: support is high, informed and stable – including for the assisted dying Bill now before Parliament. The evidence shows:

• Strong backing for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. When people hear what the Bill actually does, more than seven in ten support it.
  
• Support grows when people hear all the arguments. England’s first Citizens’ Jury on assisted dying saw support for law change increase and strengthen over an eight-week process.
  
• Support has been high and stable for decades. British Social Attitudes surveys show broad public support for assisted dying stretching back 20 years.
  
• Every constituency in Great Britain backs change. Constituency-level modelling shows a majority in favour of law change in every MP’s seat in Great Britain.

Support for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

In May 2025, YouGov asked a representative sample of the public about the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. 

73% of people said they would support law change as proposed in the Bill, with only a small minority opposed.

Before giving their view, people were told about the key safety measures in the Bill, including that:

• Only terminally ill adults with mental capacity would be eligible.
  
• Each request would be assessed by two independent doctors.
  
• An application would be reviewed by a multi-disciplinary panel (including legal and psychosocial expertise).
  
• The life-ending medication must be self-administered.

When people see the details of the assisted dying Bill, they back it.

Support grows when people hear all the arguments

In 2024–25, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics ran England’s first ever Citizens’ Jury on assisted dying, alongside two nationally representative surveys.

• 30 jurors were selected to broadly reflect the English population in terms of demographics and initial views.
  
• Over eight weeks, they heard from experts and advocates on all sides of the debate, scrutinised evidence, and deliberated together.

By the end of the process:

• More than seven in ten jurors voted for a change in the law to allow assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
  
• The proportion who felt strongly in favour increased as they learned more, weighed up safeguards and discussed possible models.

Jurors emphasised the importance of firm safeguards and strong palliative care, but concluded that a tightly regulated assisted dying law is the right way forward.

This shows that when people have time, information and space to think, support for law change deepens.

Support has been high and stable for decades

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) uses the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey to track public views on key ethical and social issues.

British Social Attitudes has shown broad support for assisted dying for around 20 years, even as other attitudes in Britain have shifted.

Its latest data on assisted dying, published in March 2025, found that:

• 79% of the British public think doctors should “definitely” or “probably” be allowed to end the life of a person with an incurable and painful terminal illness, if that person requests it.
  
• This is almost identical to the 78% who held that view when the question was last asked in 2016.

Support for a compassionate assisted dying law has been high and remarkably stable for decades.

Every constituency in Great Britain backs law change

In 2024, Dignity in Dying commissioned the largest ever poll on assisted dying in the UK, carried out by Opinium using a multilevel regression and post-stratification (MRP) model to produce estimates for every Westminster constituency in Great Britain. The polling shows that:

• Every single constituency in Great Britain has a majority in favour of changing the law for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
  
• Around three in four people (75%) across Great Britain say assisted dying should be lawful in some form, with only a small minority opposed.

Support is consistently high across political parties, regions, disabled people and people of faith.

Your local data

Search using the map below to find the level of support in your constituency:

Find out more

• Three quarters of Britons still think assisted dying should be legal in principle, with 72% supporting Kim Leadbeater’s proposals – You Gov
• Exploring public views on assisted dying in England – Nuffield Council on Bioethics (PDF)
• Public support for assisted dying remains high and stable – National Centre for Social Research 
• Consistency level polling modelled three questions via multilevel regression with poststratification (MRP). This is full breakdown of the analysis by Opinion:
  • Do you support legalising assisted dying in the UK? 
  • Do you want your MP to vote for legalising assisted dying?
  • How affordable is the average £15,000 cost of assisted dying in Switzerland?
  • Note: Excludes constituencies in Northern Ireland