Voters across the UK want tougher immigration policies with 80% in favour of annual net migration being brought under 100,000 research finds

Voters in almost every part of the country want tougher immigration policies, according to research.

The analysis found people in almost nine out of ten parliamentary constituencies favoured fewer arrivals and tighter controls.

Some 80 per cent wanted annual net migration – those moving to Britain minus those who emigrate – to be under 100,000, way below the record 745,000 registered in 2022. And half wanted the figure to be fewer than 10,000.

The research by think-tank Onward suggested there are only 75 seats out of 650 across the UK where residents want more people to move from overseas.

It comes as the first migrants to cross the Channel this year were spotted this weekend. Five were reported to have died.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel, pictured January 14

The survey of more than 4,000 people by Stack Data Strategy found that every demographic group wanted lower immigration.

It also found that most people massively underestimate the scale of net migration and believe it to be around 70,000 a year.

Jim Blagden, Onward’s head of politics and polling, said: ‘Voters want a policy prioritising higher wages for UK workers rather than low-wage migration.’

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The PM and Home Secretary have made clear current levels of migration… are far too high.

‘That is why the Government announced a plan to cut the number of migrants by 300,000 a year.’