Levels of trust in the UK government, media and businesses have plummeted, according to a key survey.

The annual trust barometer survey by PR firm Edelman has for the first time published a separate UK-specific supplement, which showed a sharp drop in levels of trust in the last 12 months.

Trust in the British government, which was already low at 36% at the start of last year, fell to 26% by the start of 2017, the survey showed.

In a separate question, the prime minister, Theresa May, was given a trust rating of 35% following the EU referendum but this compared favourably with 23% for Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader.

The number of people in the UK saying they trusted the media fell from 36% in 2016 to 24%, while trust in businesses fell from 46% to 33% and charities from 50% to 32%.

Ed Williams, the chief executive of Edelman UK, said: “If we thought 2016 was bad, 2017 could be far worse. The virus that has understandably destroyed trust among those who feel let down by the system has now obviously spread. Even those who got richer after the financial crisis exhibit declining trust in the key pillars of society – politicians, business leaders, NGOs and the media.”

Less than a third of voters trust the government’s “three Brexiteers” to “do what is right” regarding leaving the EU, the poll also suggests. The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson (26%), the Brexit secretary, David Davis (24%), and the international trade secretary, Liam Fox (20%), trailed the prime minister in the trust ratings, although she also lacked majority support and attracted 36% of support among respondents.

Addressing institutions, 18% of respondents said they trust political parties in general to “do what is right” compared with 19% for political leaders, 27% for the EU, 55% for the British people and 88% for family.



When asked which party would they trust to “do what is right”, voters put the Conservatives top on 28% – a drop from 38% in 2016. Labour came second with 25% (down 6%) followed by the Liberal Democrats with 20% (down 3%), Ukip on 19% (no change), the Green party on 27% (down 2%), SNP on 22% (down 3%) and Plaid Cymru unchanged on 16%.

The survey states 87% of those respondents who voted leave and 88% who voted remain are sure of their decision six months after June’s referendum. Support for a second referendum sits at 22% among the general population, the poll adds.

• Edelman said it used more than 33,000 responses from 28 countries between 13 October and 16 November, including about 1,150 UK residents. It also carried out research with another 1,500 UK residents between 23 December and 7 January.

