Trust in politicians ‘in freefall’ after year of chaos at Westminster

Just 4 per cent think MPs are working for national interest

The sun sets behind the Palace of Westminster, London (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Archive)

Public trust in politicians has gone into “freefall” following 18 months of chaos at Westminster, according to a new poll.

The proportion of voters believing parliamentarians are “only out for themselves” has surged by nine percentage points to 66 per cent since May 2021.

Just 4 per cent of those questioned by YouGov for the IPPR thinktank thought politicians were doing their best for the country, while 19 per cent said they prioritised their party’s interests.

Although trust in politics has been on the decline for decades, the nine-point change in an 18-month period represents a marked acceleration.

The period has seen the Partygate scandal, the disastrous mini-Budget and two prime ministers removed after losing the confidence of their own party.

By comparison, it took seven years for the proportion thinking MPs were out for themselves to rise nine points to 57, and 42 years for the previous nine-point fall in trust to occur.

Voters across the political spectrum were united in their distrust, with 67 per cent of Remain voters, 68 per cent of Leave supporters, 64 per cent of those backing Conservatives and 69 per cent Labour agreeing that politicians are merely out for themselves.

IPPR director of research Harry Quilter-Pinner said falling levels of trust were “profoundly disturbing” as they are linked to damaging consequences for democracy, including lower voter turnout, political polarisation and the rise of populist groups

And he said low voter trust made it more difficult to provide effective government, as policy-makers find it harder to find a consensus on policy and struggle with legitimacy in using the powers of the state

“After a year of chaos which saw sleaze and scandals take down the Johnson government, and the ill-judged mini-Budget quickly undoing the Truss premiership, trust in politicians is in free fall,” said Mr Quilter-Pinner.

“This has profoundly negative consequences for our politics.

“There is no magic bullet to restore trust in politics. It is easy to lose it, and hard to regain it. But what we do know is that simply changing the prime minister or party in power will not solve the problem. We need deep reform of our economy and politics.

“This means devolving more power to places and citizens, having more representative politicians and ensuring all citizens have a decent income and access to high quality public services.”