80% of Britons back the monarchy

British support for the monarchy is at an all time high, according to a poll.

As the Queen tours the country to celebrate her Jubilee, a survey of 1,006 British adults showed eight out of ten (80%) supported the monarchy.

Just 13% were in favour of the country becoming a republic, the Mori poll showed.

The Midlands was shown to be the most Royalist, with 89% supporting a monarchy. Just 9% in the region favoured abolishing the monarchy.

Meanwhile just 76% of people surveyed in the South were in favour of a monarchy, while 17% said they would support a republic.

Support for the monarchy was highest among the older generation, with around nine in ten (88%) aged over 55 and the same number of over 65s saying it should remain in place.

And Conservative voters were found to be most likely to support a monarchy, with 96% favouring a monarch over a republic, in comparison to 74% of Labour supporters and 84% of Liberal Democrats.

Simon Atkinson, deputy chief executive of Ipsos MORI, said: "Support for the Royal family has always been consistently high but the Queen will enter her Jubilee celebrations with support for the monarchy running at record levels.

"Given the choice, 80% of Britons want to see Britain remain a monarchy, a jump of five percentage points, which could be attributed to the increased coverage of the Royal family because of last year's Royal Wedding and this year's Diamond Jubilee celebration."

©Press Association