BASILDON and Thurrock are two of the areas of the UK the least friendly to migrants, a study claims.

News publisher Unherd – which surveyed more than 21,000 people in conjunction with pollster FocalData to map social attitudes across Great Britain – warned views on migration were “reshaping the British electorate”, overshadowing the old economic divide between left and right-wing.

Participants were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement “immigrants should be free to move to Britain and work”.

The responses were then analysed to create a model for each constituency based on the demographics of their populations.

Of these constituencies, South Basildon and East Thurrock was deemed to be the least friendly – 27 per cent agreed, compared to 47 per cent who did not, with the rest undecided.

This placed it 625th out of 632 areas, where the top ranking is the most pro-immigration.

At the other end of the scale was the constituency of Basildon and Billericay, which came in 428th place.

Southend West was placed 179th, while Rochford and Southend East were placed 409th, and Castle Point placed 566th.

Clacton was the most hostile ,where 47 per cent were against free movement.

Eric Kaufmann, Unherd commentator and professor of politics at London’s Birkbeck University, said: “Immigration attitudes are the fulcrum around which the politics of western societies are realigning. This is because those whose psychological make-up inclines them to see difference as disorder and change as loss are voting for parties that promise to slow immigration.”