Boris Johnson

Hands off the tiller: Public don’t trust Boris Johnson with economy

Hands off the tiller: Public don’t trust Boris Johnson with economy

The public would not trust a government led by Boris Johnson to manage the economy, a damaging new poll on the London mayor has found.

Just seven per cent of voters said they would trust him "a great deal" to run the economy, 20% said they would trust him a "fair amount" and 62% said they would not trust him at all.

His net trust rating is lower than both Ed Miliband and David Cameron, according to YouGov.

Overall Johnson scored a net rating of minus 35, compared to minus 32 for Miliband and minus 23 for Cameron.

The findings will be seen as a significant blow to Johnson's chances of becoming Conservative leader and prime minister.

Previous polls have shown that Johnson remains consistently popular with the public.

However today's findings suggest his popularity may come at the cost of public trust.

However, the poll will also be worrying for Miliband and Cameron. Sixty-two per cent said they would not trust a government led by Miliband to run the economy and 58% said the same of Cameron.

The YouGov poll also found the idea of coalition government remains deeply unpopular with the public.

Seventy-two per cent said they would not trust a Miliband-Clegg coalition to run the economy, while 67% said they would not trust a Cameron-Cable coalition.

The poll also reveals that public mistrust with politicians now extends beyond Westminster.

Just 34% said their local councillors "understand about how the economy affects you and your family" with 54% saying they didn't.

The poll of 2311 British adults was commissioned by PLMR and released on the fifth anniversary of the global economic crisis.