Almost two in three voters want a new political party to take on the Conservatives and Labour, a shock new study of trust in politics has found.
Britain is increasingly pessimistic, distrustful of government and disdainful of politicians, according to Edelman’s annual trust barometer poll.
Three-quarters of people (75 per cent) said they thought the UK was heading in the wrong direction – a record figure since the survey started in 2001.
And 61 per cent agreed that the UK “needs a completely new type of political party to compete with the Conservatives and Labour for power”.
Just 23 per cent of people said they felt close to the Tories, down four points since 2022, compared with 29 per cent saying the same about Labour, an increase of six points.
However, the Trust Barometer also found widespread “disdain” for politicians, with trust in government at its lowest level since 2016 at just 27 per cent.
Underlying this figure was a “dire” view of politicians in general, with 68 per cent saying politicians were more likely to lie, 77 per cent saying they were making things worse and 80 per cent saying they were making the country more divided.
Trust in individual politicians was also limited, with Rishi Sunak seeing his score drop 10 points to 25 per cent, while chancellor Jeremy Hunt scored 18 per cent. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was more trusted than other senior Westminster figures – but still scored only 31 per cent.
The survey also found evidence on Brexit regret. Some 54 per cent of people also said they would vote Remain if the EU referendum was held again, compared to just 32 per cent saying they would vote Leave.
Only members of the Baby Boomer generation were more likely to back Leave over Remain, by 47 per cent to 44 per cent.
Edelman’s president and CEO, Ed Williams, said: “If political leaders miss this moment and fail to grasp the opportunity to articulate an inspiring and galvanizing vision … and resort to old answers to stale debates, then the data indicates that British politics is setting itself up for a seismic shock.”
He added: “If high demand for reframing and fresh thinking remains unmet among our existing political establishment, then we shouldn’t be surprised if people look elsewhere for answers, with all the damaging consequences that flow from that.”
For the first time in eight years, a majority of people said they expected their standard of living to get worse over the next year while less than a quarter thought their situation would improve in the next five years.
The survey of 3,000 UK adults, carried out at the end of January, also found two-thirds of people thought inequality was increasing and one-in-five people were either considering using a local food bank, were actively planning to do so or had already been to one.
Some 14 per cent said the same about skipping credit card or loan repayments, while 12 per cent said the same about rent or mortgage payments.
