There’s no trust left in the world. How can we get it back?

There is a global crisis in public trust. With the return of The Traitors and on the heels of a Labour Party Conference that saw an embattled party fighting to regain the confidence of a tired nation, how did we get here, and how can trust be regained?

Without trust, things fall apart. And in these polarised times, there isn’t very much of it around.  

Trust helps communities flourish, it’s vital for strong relationships and without it, institutions – policing, healthcare, education, politics – would grind to a halt. The biggest show on TV, The Traitors, is about understanding how trust is formed and broken.  

If you can get people to trust you, you can get things done. Keir Starmer’s Labour government won the 2024 election by a landslide, campaigning on a promise to restore stability and integrity to UK politics. But public trust in the government has taken body blows from badly handled policy rollouts, scandals and resignations and will take some effort to regain. 

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK have seized the moment, pitting themselves against the political establishment to top the polls. Robert Jenrick of the Conservatives plays on people’s fears and sense of injustice with easily digested video stunts that sum up the erosion of the social contract (fare-dodging, litter-dropping). The politicians making hay in 2025 are thriving on the idea that we’ve lost faith in the political class. But is that lack of trust anything new? 

Even back in the 1940s, as Britain led the fight against forces of totalitarianism across the world, the British public were not blindly trusting of their political leaders. Diaries from the Mass Observation Archive reveal that a substantial proportion of people were dissatisfied with government, and thought politicians were “out for themselves” and “not straight-talking”. 

But things have got worse. When the British Institute for Public Opinion polled British people on the home front in 1944, the percentage who said that British politicians were “out for themselves” was 35% (vs 36% who said they were acting in the interests of their country). When the same question was asked by YouGov in August 2025, 67% of people viewed politicians as self-serving – up on the 48% who had answered this way in 2014. 

More recent diaries from Mass Observation confirm that public discontent with politics has expanded in terms of its scope and intensity. 

Politicians and politics are now judged to be flawed by most citizens across many different sections of society. Disillusionment with politics is not confined to one social group – such as those who are
economically marginalised or ‘critical citizens’ with higher levels of education. 

People also hold a wider range of grievances. They consider politicians to be not only self-serving, but also out of touch, all the same, and a joke.  

Lastly, criticisms of politics are increasingly intense and emotive, with citizens describing their ‘loathing’ for politicians who had made them ‘angry’, ‘disgusted’ and ‘depressed’. People are now more vitriolic and cynical about politicians than they once were.  

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Why care about trust?

Trust is the glue that holds our society and economy together. We have to trust the bank not to lose our money, trust the doctor to give a correct diagnosis, trust teachers to educate our kids, trust the newsreader to give an impartial account of the day’s events. Of course, we might not trust them completely, and they may sometimes let us down, but by taking part in social and economic life we have to trust others a little at least.  

The Covid pandemic demonstrated how important trust can be in times of crisis. Trust in government and public health officials was associated with greater willingness of people to follow the rules (such as on social distancing) and get vaccinated against the virus. People found the presence of scientific experts at daily briefings alongside politicians reassuring.  

Low political trust tends to be linked with support for populist parties and leaders who rail against the political establishment. Trust can also undermine support for public policies. Welfare systems rely on public trust, while a recent survey by the OECD found that political trust was associated with support for taking action on climate change. It is perhaps not surprising that people need to trust government if they are to entrust it with delivering major social, environment and economic programmes – and are expected to pay for them via their taxes.  

What is the global evidence?

Britain is not alone in experiencing a trend of declining trust in politics.  

A recent study found evidence of a global decline in political trust. Drawing on results from thousands of surveys in more than a hundred countries, the analysis suggests that – at least since 1990 – trust in national parliament and government has declined by an average of about 8.4 and 7.3 percentage points respectively in democratic countries across the world. The same does not apply to trust in the civil service, judicial systems or police, where public trust appears to be rising.  

And satisfaction with democracy itself may in fact be increasing – even as our trust in political authorities falls. 

Read more:

• Brits feel more powerless and distrusting than ever, research finds: ‘This is worrying for all of us’
• Brits don’t trust politicians. Could a Welsh plan to ban lying in politics help turn that around?
• Isn’t stretching the truth inevitable in politics? Maybe. But we’ve lost our ability to trust

Trust in other institution

Organisations and professions can lose trust too. The BBC was widely criticised for its handling of Jimmy Savile’s sexual abuse over a lengthy period. The number of people naming it as their most trusted news source fell from 57% in 2017 to 45% in 2024. In a number of countries, sexual abuse scandals have severely eroded trust in the Catholic Church. 

The Metropolitan Police suffered a loss in public trust – especially among women – in the aftermath of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer and its heavy-handed police response to protests. The phone-hacking scandal worsened trust in British newspapers. 

More generally, trust in media has declined as it has increasingly become a political target and as our news consumption habits have fragmented across traditional and social media. 

Trust is not declining for everyone. Ipsos’s ‘veracity index’ which measures public trust in different groups “to tell the truth” finds that while trust in the clergy and TV news readers has declined since the 1980s, trust in scientists has increased. 

What drives trust?

So what is driving this collapse of trust in political institutions? As individuals, our propensity to trust can be quite stable – reflecting deep-rooted characteristics of our personality and upbringing – and move little in response to major life events. Some of the decline in trust may be due to generational replacement, as older generations are succeeded by younger generations who are less trusting of the government.  

Alongside this, things like economic shocks or political scandals can lead to significant deteriorations in trust. One such example is the global financial crisis, which led to a collapse of public trust in government in many of the countries that were affected. In EU countries bailed out by the European Central Bank on condition of strict economic reforms – most notably Greece and Spain – there were substantial falls in trust in national governments in the years following the crisis. In Iceland, where the government collapsed soon after the country’s three largest banks all failed, trust in government also dropped precipitously. 

Around the same period of the financial crisis, the parliamentary expenses scandal contributed to the erosion of political trust in Britain. 

Memorable stories from the scandal – such as Douglas Hogg MP claiming £2,200 for the cleaning of a moat in the grounds of his 13th century manor house and Sir Peter Viggers MP claiming £1,645 for a floating duck house plus £30,000 in other gardening costs – stuck in the minds of voters, who recounted them in focus groups and diaries for Mass Observation.  

Sometimes, national crises can lead to a ‘rally-round-the-flag’ in political trust, as under conditions of fear or uncertainty citizens place their trust in political authorities to act in their interests. At the start of the Covid pandemic, the initial announcement of lockdowns was found to have led to an increase in trust/confidence in many leaders across the world – including in the UK. 

Similarly, the Partygate scandal – which exposed rule-breaking in Number 10 during the pandemic, and the subsequent investigation into whether Boris Johnson had misled parliament – led to growing public distrust of the PM. With Partygate, the betrayal was especially personal for many because of the sacrifices they had made following rules that the PM had not.  

What qualities do we look for in our governments and politicians?

Other studies suggest that attributes of competence, benevolence and integrity matter for how citizens evaluate the trustworthiness of those in power. We trust government if we think it is delivering for us, cares about us and acts in our interests, and conducts itself in an open and transparent way. Governments that don’t deliver, mismanage the economy or public services, don’t act in the best interests of citizens will quickly lose the trust of the public. 

In focus groups that ran in a number of countries across the world, we found that a common refrain from citizens was that politicians should prioritise the ‘greater good’, stick to their word and do what they say they are going to.  

For politicians, being seen as authentic is another source of trust. Those who are perceived to be ‘normal’ and ‘in touch with ordinary people’ and ‘saying what they think’ tend to be seen as more trustworthy. Politicians who are awkward, evade questions, can’t speak plainly or struggle to relate to the lives and experiences of voters tend to be viewed with greater suspicion. Ed Miliband’s famous bacon sandwich photo became a focus of his struggle to appear normal to voters. By contrast, Boris Johnson’s ability to play the joker enabled him to survive getting stuck on a zipwire during the London Olympics.  

Another related theme of our research, in particular from the Mass Observation diaries and surveys is that British voters dislike the professionalisation of political communications. They dislike soundbites, spin, stage-managed events and prefer politicians who answer questions directly and appear to be in touch. It is no wonder, then, that populists have flourished in the age of distrust – especially when they are able to present themselves as speaking truths that other politicians are unwilling to. Notably, politicians like Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are able to present themselves as authentic and unspun, even when their political images are carefully crafted personas.  

Do online spaces accelerate spirals of distrust?

As we increasingly live our lives online, social networks and algorithms play a critical role in the spread of distrust. Misinformation can travel rapidly across social media platforms, contributing to the adoption of conspiratorial beliefs. Anti-vaxxers and other such groups can now quickly find large numbers of like-minded people online and intensify their views as they communicate with one another. Individuals can fall down ‘rabbit holes’ as inadvertent exposure to conspiracy beliefs can lead them to be drawn into a spiral of distrust and conspiratorial beliefs. In this context, traditional gatekeepers of authority – such as media and experts – are increasingly challenged by new online communities and actors. 

What are the consequences of distrust?

What are the real-world impacts of a lack of trust? Falling vaccination rates, a direct consequence of declining trust, present a significant danger to the most vulnerable in society as herd immunity weakens. Indeed, if the world were to face another pandemic tomorrow widespread distrust of national governments and global organisations such as the World Health Organization, and distrust between countries, would badly hamper our collective efforts to respond – at a potential cost of millions of lives. 

In America, Republicans’ distrust of ‘the deep state’ has seen a dismantling of intelligence capabilities as professionals have been replaced by partisan actors loyal to the president. Distrust of government and scientific expertise also weakens our ability to take action on climate change – as warnings now struggle to be heard, especially where experts have been sidelined. 

How can trust be rebuilt?

How can we rebuild trust in politics and public institutions? There are sadly no simple solutions. If only it were as simple as telling those in power to be honest, do what they say they are going to, and act with integrity. Most people in politics do not set out to be dishonest or corrupt. Rather, politics by its nature requires compromises and political opponents will always be ruthless in exploiting the failings of those in power. Our political and media landscape is highly fragmented with social media now enabling people to self-select into different information environments. There is no going back to an age when there were a few gatekeepers of authority and expertise in politics and media.  

Some argue that greater engagement of the public in decision-making is a route to increasing trust in politics. Yet many people don’t have the time or means to participate regularly in politics. Perhaps there is greater potential for public engagement via more accessible digital technologies, though that would have to be weighed up against the extent to which distrust can flourish in online spaces.  

Asking politicians to reinvent themselves is also unrealistic. Many of the politicians seen as ‘authentic’ are extremely careful about how they present themselves publicly. Most politicians who stray outside the party line and careful talking points will be dismantled by relentless journalists. Today’s MPs are for the most part extremely attentive to their constituents and face a large volume of casework.  

It does seem, at least in the case of Britain, that delivering significant improvements in a stagnant economy and struggling public services would be an important start in rebuilding public trust. 

Will Jennings is professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southampton. Between 2019 and 2023 he led the TrustGov project funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council exploring patterns of trust in national and global governance. He is elections analyst for Sky News.

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