Survey Shows Immigration Top Concern for Brits Ahead of UK Elections

45 percent of Britons consider immigration as the most important issue facing the United Kingdom, according to the survey, provided by the Ipsos MORI.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Britons have named immigration as their top concern as the United Kingdom gears up for May 7 general elections, results of a major survey published Thursday demonstrated.

The survey results show that 45 percent of those polled said that immigration was the most important issue facing Britain, overtaking the National Health Service, which topped the Ipsos MORI opinion polls in January and February.

The economy, unemployment and education rounded out the top five biggest concerns of the British public in March, the survey suggested.

Surge in concern about #immigration: Our latest Issues Index for @EconBritain http://t.co/JSn6Am1lF8 #GE2015 pic.twitter.com/AXeMh7AXJR

— Ipsos MORI (@IpsosMORI) March 19, 2015

What British women & men say of most concern facing Britain today: #NHS & #Immigration http://t.co/JSn6Am1lF8 pic.twitter.com/jjvd255dGM

— Ipsos MORI (@IpsosMORI) March 19, 2015

Ipsos MORI, a leading market research company in the United Kingdom, provides a monthly overview of key issues concerning the country. Over 1,000 adults from across Britain took part in its latest survey.

The growing number of migrants in Britain is set to become one of the decisive issues of the upcoming elections after a recent report by the UK Office for National Statistics showed that net migration increased by over 40 percent in 2014.

Net migration is the difference between the total number of migrants entering the country and leaving it.

Britain's immigrant population grew by almost 300,000 people in the year ending September 2014, despite Prime Minister David Cameron's pledge in 2011 to reduce it to "tens of thousands."