By Samuel Hornsby
A new poll by the online market research company Yougov found that Leicester’s own Sir David Attenborough is the most popular public figure among members of the British public.
The 92-year-old nature documentarian came out with a positive opinion rating of 87 per cent, beating contenders such as the Queen (at 74 per cent), respected Victorian author Charles Dickens (with a rating of 75 per cent), and award winning actress Dame Judi Dench (who finished in sixth place with an 80 per cent positivity rating).
The results of the poll were collected between May and October of 2018 and were conducted through the website’s online tracking tool, YouGov Ratings, which correlated the opinions of British adults who are weighted to represent the national demographics of Great Britain.
Sir David, who grew up on the campus of the University of Leicester, has been authoring critically acclaimed nature books and producing documentary projects since the 1950s, with his 2017 BBC series, Blue Planet II, having being given both a National Television Award and two British Academy Television Craft Awards.
As well as this, Sir David himself holds several prestigious titles including both a CBE and the Order of Merit.
The positive reaction forSir David was reflected at De Montfort University.
Max Young, who is studying forensic science, said that he thoughtSir David was “lovely” and that he agreed with the result of the poll as there was ‘no one better that he could think of’.
Likewise, intelligence systems student, Alex Vale, stated that he was ‘not surprised’ by the result of the poll and commented: “You can’t say anything bad about him from what we see of him.”
Then when asked why he thought Sir David was so overwhelmingly liked by the British public, he explained: “He’s very good at what he does and has done a lot for promoting nature and the environment.
“It also helps that he is not involved politically which would sway a lot of the public. He seems to stay neutral on those issues.”
For a more detailed look at the Yougov poll follow the link to their website at: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/entertainment/articles-reports/2018/11/07/david-attenborough-most-popular-person-britain
