Opinion: prison sentence harshness in Britain 2019

According to a survey conducted in 2019, 70 percent of people in Great Britain thought that court sentences for convicted criminals were not harsh enough. Among people who voted to leave the European Union, the share of people that think criminal sentences are too lenient rises to 88 percent, while 18-24 year old's were the least likely to think sentences weren't harsh enough, at 46 percent.

Share of people in Great Britain who think that court sentences are not harsh enough in 2019, by politics and age group

Characteristic	Share of respondents
Leave voters	88%
Conservative voters	87%
65 years or older	80%
50-64 years old	78%
Overall	70%
25-49 years old	66%
Liberal Democrat voters	62%
Labour voters	58%
Remain voters	56%
18-24 years old	46%

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Release date

October 2019

More information

Region

United Kingdom (Great Britain)

Survey time period

September 7-9, 2019

Number of respondents

1,682 respondents

Age group

18 years and older

Special properties

GB adults

Method of interview

Online survey

Supplementary notes

The question was originally worded by the source as follows; "Generally speaking, do you think the sentences that the courts hand down to people who have been convicted of crimes are too harsh, not harsh enough, or get the balance about right?"

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