To what extent can rising nationalist and populist attitudes in the UK be attributed to nostalgia for the days of empire? Details of the extent, practices, and legacies of empire – including the role of slavery - have not been taught in any detail in UK schools, nor meaningfully addressed by political institutions. As a result, many UK citizens are unaware of the levels of brutality and exploitation committed in the name of empire. This project explores whether the UK’s unwillingness to confront its past has led to vestigial imperialistic attitudes that have a powerful effect on modern political outcomes. For example, the campaign for Britain to leave the EU focused on returning to a time when Britain ‘had control’, implicitly evoking the country’s imperial past. I use an experimental approach to investigate the power of this nostalgia by assessing the extent to which information about the involvement of one’s ancestors in the imperial slave trade affects nationalist and populist attitudes. Using the UCL database on Legacies of British Slave Ownership, participants are exposed to the notion that their ancestral history may be tied to the slave trade, and the effect of this ‘treatment’ on attitudes towards key political issues (including immigration, redistribution and the Brexit) is then assessed. In line with the relevant literature on collective guilt, this will also involve an exploration of the psychological mechanisms underpinning any treatment effects. In addition, I will investigate whether guilt mechanisms primarily operate with respect to ancestral ties or national ties.