‘A temporary disagreement or a fundamental split’? The Suez Crisis and British public opinion towards the United States in the 1950s and 1960s

This study assesses public opinion in Britain towards the United States, establishing attitudes at the outset of the Cold War, examining the Suez Crisis and then assessing opinion over the longer-term. Attitudes were responsive to foreign policy crises and superpower relations, but the impact of Suez was generally temporary and modest in scope. The views of party supporters varied over Suez and Vietnam but showed a solid foundation for the Atlanticist orientation of political elites. The paper provides the most comprehensive and detailed analysis of public attitudes in Britain towards US-UK relations in the early decades of the Cold War.