14% of Brits think they are on Santa’s naughty list this year

Matthew SmithHead of Data Journalism
December 21, 2016, 12:43 PM GMT+0

Men, young people and UKIP voters are the most likely to be getting a lump of coal this year

Nearly three quarters of Brits can expect to find a pile of presents from Santa under their Christmas tree on Sunday, according to new YouGov research which finds that 72% of people believe they are on his 'nice' list this year.

By contrast, 14% have nothing to look forward to except a lump of coal in their stocking, having said they have been naughty this year. A further 14% can’t decide how well behaved they have been.

Women are significantly more likely than men to think they have been nice this year. Fully 78% of women say they have been nice, compared to 65% of men. Approaching one in five men (18%) say they have been naughty, against just one in ten (10%) women.

Young people are also among the most likely to be getting a lump of coal this year. At 19%, they are the most likely group to say they have been naughty in 2016.

Celebrities and politicians: naughty or nice?

From a list of celebrities who have made the news this year for being naughty or nice, 2016's nice celebrities are clearly Tom Hanks (49% nice), JK Rowling (48% nice) and David Beckham (47% nice).

On the other side of the spectrum, 43% of people believe that Justin Bieber has been naughty this year, as do 40% for Kanye West. Taylor Swift is the celebrity people are most closely split on – 22% of people think she has been naughty compared to 17% who think she has been nice.

Donald Trump is seen as this year’s naughtiest politician. More than six in ten people (62%) say the Donald has been bad this year, compared to just 8% who think he has been good. Russian president Vladimir Putin is seen in similarly negative terms, at 59% naughty against 5% nice.

Current Prime Minister Theresa May fares best on our list, although she is still seen as marginally more naughty (31%) than nice (27%). She significantly outperforms her predecessor David Cameron, however, who is viewed by 48% as naughty and just 13% as nice. May is seen as more nice than naughty by Leave, Conservative and UKIP voters as well as Southerners, old people and women (just). Cameron, by contrast, is seen as more naughty across every group.

May is also ahead of her rival Jeremy Corbyn in the lump of coal stakes. Corbyn is seen as nice by 19% of people, compared to 39% who think he has been naughty. Only 18-24 year-olds are more likely to think Corbyn has been more nice than naughty with even Labour voters being (slightly) more likely to believe he has been more naughty than nice (31% vs 30%).

Photo: iStockphoto

See the full results here

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