The statue of a man with a flag is most appreciated by younger Britons and those who backed left-wing parties in 2024

Key takeaways

  • 56% of Britons like the new Banksy statue – only 13% dislike it
  • 59% say they like Banksy’s work in general
  • Girl With Balloon is the most popular Banksy artwork we asked about, at 77%
  • Kissing Coppers is notably less popular than other famous Banksy pieces

At the end of April, a new statue appeared on a plinth in central London. The artwork – depicting a man in a suit whose vision is obscured by a flag and apparently about to march off a ledge – was soon confirmed to be by the elusive artist Banksy.

Just over a week after it was erected, 66% of Britons had heard at least a little about the new statue, and a new YouGov survey shows that a majority of the public appreciate the new artwork.

Slightly over half of people (56%) say they like the new Banksy statue, including 29% who say they like it “a lot”.

A further 27% take a neutral stance, saying that they neither like nor dislike it, while only 13% say they actively dislike the new artwork.

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With many interpreting the statue in anti-nationalist terms, it is perhaps unsurprising to see that Britons who backed left wing parties in 2024 are the most likely to appreciate the statue (68-72% of Labour, Lib Dems and Greens), and it is also more popular with younger Britons (69% of 18-24 year olds). Nevertheless, it is more popular than not among all social and voting groups.

Our survey finds that the public also have an appreciation of Banksy’s catalogue in general. Almost six in ten Britons (59%) say that they generally like the Bristolian artist’s work, with only 8% saying they dislike his portfolio – a further 29% say they neither like nor dislike his output.

The number who like his work is largely consistent across age groups (53-60%), although he is notably more popular with those who voted for a left-wing party in 2024 (66-71% of Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters) than their Tory and Reform-voting counterparts (44-54%).

How popular is the new Banksy statue compared to his other famous works?

We also tested the popularity of five other famous Banksy works, to see how the new statue stacks up.

By far the most popular is Girl With Balloon, a 2002 mural depicting a small girl letting go of a heart-shaped ballon, with 77% saying they like the artwork.

This is the only Banksy artwork we asked about that surpassed the popularity of the artist himself. Other famed pieces Love Is In The Bin, Flower Thrower, and Mobile Lovers all score within the same ballpark (54-59%) as Banksy himself – as of course does the recent flag-brandishing statue.

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Notably less popular is Kissing Coppers, a stencil of two male police officers in uniform locking lips. This piece proves divisive, with 37% of Britons saying they like the artwork, but 35% saying they dislike it.

Attitudes are subject to a political and generational split – most older Britons and Tory/Reform voters dislike the piece, while it is generally popular among younger Britons and Labour/Lib Dem/Green voters.

That said, Kissing Coppers is still notably less popular among Labour and Lib Dem voters, and 25-49 year olds, than any of Banksy’s other works, and while this is less obviously the case for Greens and 18-24 year olds, it still remains bottom of the pack for these latter two groups.

See full results here

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Photo: Getty

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