Commonwealth less popular with Brits

The Commonwealth group of 53 countries has suffered a drop in popularity in its homeland of Britain.

A poll carried out to mark the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth's foundation found most Britons appeared to know little about what it is or does.

The results were published as the Queen released her Commonwealth Day statement, saying the future of the group of independent states lay in the hands of its 1 billion young people.

But the YouGov online poll of 2119 British adults, carried out between March 2 and 4, found young people were the least familiar with the Commonwealth and its role and had problems naming member countries and its home country. Eight per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds incorrectly believed the United States was a member and a further 3 per cent wrongly named President Barack Obama as the Commonwealth's head.

Overall, 70 per cent of respondents correctly named the Queen as head of the Commonwealth and 42 per cent said they would be unhappy if the UK withdrew its membership.

However, more than half of those surveyed were indifferent, saying they would not mind if Britain pulled out.

Just one in five respondents could name activities undertaken by the Commonwealth, with the Commonwealth Games the most common answer.

- AAP