Predictions for 2018 – Theresa May is a stronger bet than the English football team

We asked 1,000 UK adults what they thought about some predictions for 2018.  A Royal baby seems the most likely, whilst a robot winning a talent show is viewed as least likely.  Here’s what they thought, in order of ‘most likely’…

1. Meghan Markle will probably be pregnant. Another Royal baby on the way this year?  We will have to wait and see but 43 percent thought it was a definite possibility, whilst a third (34%) thought not.
2. Will Donald Trump invade North Korea?  A scary thought, but not outside the realms of possibility according to our respondents – 38% said yes whilst 36% said no… Let’s hope that 38% are wrong.  Yet again the man who divides opinion!
3. Theresa May in or out?  37% say she will stay in power, but 41% think otherwise.  It’s almost too close to call but are we seeing the last of kitten heels?
4. Every day acts of kindness.  We need to up our game – less than a third (32%) predict more people will do every day acts of kindness, whilst 45 percent say we won’t.
5. Low chance of riots between Brexit Remainers and Remoaners in major UK cities.  1 in 4 think riots between remain and leave will occur, although half (52%) said it wouldn’t happen
6. Brexit is all steam ahead – Keeping with the Brexit theme, 18 percent think it will be cancelled, while 60 percent think it’s going to happen.
7. Boris Johnson will miss out on Strictly Come Dancing.  Would the 17 percent who think Boris will appear on Strictly be more or less likely to watch, we wonder?  However, 65 percent think Boris is unlikely to put on his dancing shoes
8. England will win the World Cup?  Hold your horses, a lowly (and unlucky?) 13 per cent thought this would happen, with the majority (70%) saying ‘no’ to a win…
9. Jeremy Corbyn will appear in panto.  Oh no he won’t! 1 in 8 thought this would happen but for most (72%) it was a resounding ‘no’!
10. Will Melania Trump together with the Trump grandchildren release a song to help raise funds for a charitable cause?  Just 11 percent said this would happen, whilst 71% thought it was a ‘no’. Interestingly, this is one of the predictions of Craig Hamilton-Parker, the man who predicted Brexit and Trump.  So we might have to run for the tissue box soon.
11. A robot will win X Factor or Britain’s Got Talent, but not yet.  And last but not least… just 1 in 10 (11%) thought that a robot would win one of these two talent shows.  But three quarters don’t think it will happen this year.

These might sound a bit outlandish (some more than others, anyway) but given what 2016 and 2017 gave us, we shouldn’t rest on our laurels. 

Craig Hamilton-Parker predicts that ‘2018 will be a year of political turmoil and environmental crisis caused by dramatic and unprecedented weather,’ so not a positive outlook, but he was more confident that a larger number of people will do every day acts of kindness, so there is still hope.

Note on the data:  We showed 1,000 UK adults predictions about 2018, and they were asked to say whether they thought these would happen using ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘don’t know’ options.