British public's confidence in political system on par with Russia, survey shows

Britons’ support for the principle of democracy is 'extremely high', however, and has risen over the past two decades

The Houses of Parliament in London. PA

The UK has been ranked in the bottom half of countries for public confidence in the functioning of its political system, putting it on a par with Russia, according to a global survey.

Of those in Britain who were polled, just one in six (17 per cent), said they were highly satisfied with how the political system is functioning, with double this proportion (32 per cent) saying they were dissatisfied.

The Policy Institute at King’s College London (KCL) analysed 23 countries as part of the World Values Survey (WVS) — one of the largest and most widely-used academic social surveys in the world.

The latest UK data was collected in 2022, a year in which Boris Johnson stood down as prime minister after his government was investigated for Covid-19 breaches during lockdown, while Liz Truss held the position for just 44 days before resigning.

The UK ranked among the lowest of the countries analysed, with similar satisfaction levels in Russia (16 per cent), Mexico (17 per cent) and Nigeria (15 per cent).

It was far behind the likes of Norway (41 per cent), Canada (36 per cent) and Germany (36 per cent) — but ranked higher than France (13 per cent), the US (12 per cent) and Italy (12 per cent).

The Houses of Parliament in London. PA

Among UK nations, Northern Ireland was by far the least satisfied with how its political system is functioning, with just 8 per cent saying they are highly satisfied and 56 per cent dissatisfied.

However, Britons’ support for democracy has risen over the past two decades, with those thinking it is a very good or fairly good way of governing the country at 90 per cent in 2022 — up from 76 per cent in 1999.

“Support for the idea of democracy is extremely high and rising in the UK — but we are much less convinced by how it is working for us right now,” Prof Bobby Duffy, director of the KCL Policy Institute, said.

“The vast majority say that democracy is a good idea and important, but only 17 per cent of us are highly satisfied with how our political system is currently functioning, putting us in the bottom half of international league tables.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the despatch box during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. AFP

“There is no evidence here that people in the UK are tired of the principle of democracy and are becoming more open to authoritarian models of government — we’re at risk of mixing up dissatisfaction with the outcomes people have experienced in recent years with a decline in support for the system as a whole.

“For example, only minorities support the idea of a strong leader who ignores elections or army rule — and this really hasn’t changed over recent decades. It is true that millennials seemed less enthusiastic about democracy when they first came into adulthood, but they have now come much more into line with older generations.

“What has changed is increasing support for expert roles in national decision-making, which is now at record levels in the UK.

“It’s easy to caricature the UK as drifting to identity-driven politics and sympathy for authoritarian models of government, but the reality shown in these long-term trends and international comparisons is we’re still committed to democracy and recognise the importance of expertise.”

KCL said 3,056 adults were interviewed across the UK.