Study shows trust in politicians at record low

A report launched today by the Institute for Public Policy Research has claimed that trust in politicians in the UK has reached record lows.

The report follows a month in which the news agenda has been dominated by political sleaze allegations.  However it argues that recent scandals are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ of declining political trust.

The report claims that in 1944, just one in three British people (35 per cent) saw politicians as merely ‘out for themselves’.  In 2014 that number had risen to 48 per cent.  According to polling undertaken  last week with YouGov for this report, just 63 per cent now said they share this view.

The study suggests that trust in MPs falls the further away from Westminster you travel within England. Burnley records the lowest average levels of political trust – while Hampstead and Kilburn in North London records the highest average levels of trust in MPs.

The left leaning think tank argues that a lack of political trust makes it harder for leaders to achieve consensus to take bold action using state power to solve problems.  It suggests that solving long-term problems such as regional inequality or the climate crisis, where policy may not deliver immediate benefits, requires trust that action will eventually result in a better future for everyone, according to IPPR.

The report warns that this decline in trust in the political spectrum should be of concern for political progressives. It links this decline in political trust to a decline in support for income redistribution and ‘culturally open’ policy measures, particularly on immigration.  Without trust in government, it is suggested that will be harder for those on the left to advocate and enact policy requiring greater levels of government intervention.

Commenting on the report, Harry Quilter-Pinner, IPPR director of research and engagement, said: “These trends are deeply concerning. In a political system where voters allow and rely on others to make decisions on their behalf, trust is the most valuable commodity. Without it, our democratic systems stop functioning effectively. Our politicians must act now to set the UK on a new course, away from democratic dissatisfaction, towards a system which delivers on the priorities of citizens and where everyone has a say in how society is governed.”