Johnson faces rising tide of voter distrust over sleaze

Trust in politicians to act in the national interest rather than their own has fallen dramatically since Boris Johnson became prime minister, according to figures in a disturbing study of the state of British democracy.

- Toby Helm and Michael Savage

The polling data from YouGov for the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) shows a particularly sharp fall in trust in the few weeks since the Owen Paterson scandal triggered a rash of Tory sleaze scandals.

In 2014, when David Cameron was prime minister, 48% of voters believed politicians were “out merely for themselves” as opposed to their country or party. This had increased to 57% by May 2021 after nearly two years of Johnson in No 10, and leapt to 63% last week in the wake of the Paterson affair.