PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Careers
  • People
  • Projects
  • Our Work
  • Events
  • Donate

Our Work

Ainsley for The New Statesman: The left can win and forge a new settlement – but only if it repairs the trust we have lost

  • March 23, 2023
  • Claire Ainsley

By Claire Ainsely

Britain could hardly have had a less trustworthy leader than Boris Johnson, and it is tempting to see untrustworthiness as an individual failing, one that can be rectified by a person of greater character. Having worked closely with him, I have no doubt Keir Starmer possesses the integrity that the office of prime minister demands. But a search for the ideal politician can only end in disappointment. And it misses the deep crisis of trust in modern democracies.

Only 37 per cent of people in the UK say they trust government to do what is right, according to the most recent Edelman Global Trust Barometer. The Truss-Kwarteng mini-Budget debacle and the traumas of the Johnson premiership have made a bad situation worse. But comparative countries do little better. In the US, just 42 per cent trust their government; in Australia it’s 45 per cent. By contrast, faster-growing economies enjoy much higher levels of faith in their leadership – for example, 76 per cent in Singapore say they trust their government to do the right thing.

As voters we are all too aware of the multiple crises we face, both in our personal lives and as a nation. Economic confidence has disintegrated, with the UK especially badly affected. Less than a quarter of Britons expect to be better off in five years’ time, and three quarters believe the government and public services will offer little support in the years ahead, according to the Ipsos global tracker.

Read more in The New Statesman.

Related Work

Feature  |  May 20, 2025

Ainsley for Re:State: The Case for Remaking the State

  • Claire Ainsley
In the News  |  May 4, 2025

Ainsley in The New York Times: After 100 Years, Britain’s Two-Party Political System May Be Crumbling

  • Claire Ainsley
Op-Ed  |  April 25, 2025

Marshall for The Hill: Flailing Democrats Need to Build Coalitions, Not Primary Their Own Members

  • Will Marshall
Feature  |  April 24, 2025

Marshall in The New York Times: How Four Democrats Who Saved the Party Before Would Do It Again

  • Will Marshall
In the News  |  April 23, 2025

Ainsley for The Spectator’s Coffee House Shots Podcast: St George’s Day: Who is the Most Patriotic Leader?

  • Claire Ainsley
Op-Ed  |  April 18, 2025

Marshall for The Hill: Trump 2.0 is a Runaway Dump Truck Only Voters Can Stop

  • Will Marshall
  • Never miss an update:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
PPI Logo
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Donate
  • Careers
  • © 2025 Progressive Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • |
  • Privacy Settings