British Voters Most Concerned About Immigration Not the Economy

British voters think immigration is the most important issue facing the UK at the moment, according to pollster YouGov.

The research firm, which questioned more than 2,000 respondents in mid-August and asked people to pick their top three most important issues, found over five in ten (56%) people said immigration is the most serious issue facing the country.

But less than two in ten (19%) respondents said immigration is the biggest issue facing them and their family at the moment.

The study also revealed the economy was the second most important issue on the minds of voters as half (50%) of respondents picked this category.

"The economy has traditionally come top of the list of voters' concerns for quite a while but this changed in May 2014 when the economy and immigration tied at 52%," Tanya Abraham, a senior research executive at YouGov told IBTimes UK.

"Since that point, immigration has continued to be the top concerns amongst voters."

Health, which was chosen as the most important issue by 38% of respondents, came third in the league table.

Tax (9%), the environment (9%) and family life/childcare (8%) were considered some of the less important issues by British voters.

The findings come less than nine months before the 2015 General Election.

Prime Minister David Cameron has faced increasing pressure from Tory backbenchers and the UK Independence Party over immigration.

The Conservative Party leader most recently announced a benefits crackdown on European Union migrants.

Cameron said EU arrivals would now only be able to claim Jobseeker's Allowance or child benefit for a maximum of three months, a reduction from the current six-month period.

But Yvette Cooper, Labour's shadow home secretary, called for "more action" from the prime minister.

"It's almost a year and a half since Labour called for benefit restrictions on new migrants," Cooper said.

"In that time we've had re-announcement after re-announcement from the Tories but little in the way of firm action."

The Office for National Statistics said net long-term migration to the UK was estimated to be 212,000 in the year ending December 2013.