"Devastating indictment of the total collapse in public trust in institutions in the UK”
A report focusing on global trust in institutions has proven damning for the state of public trust in the UK, as the country ranked bottom of a 2024 trust barometer index.
This marked a three-point drop in score on last year, with the trust index monitoring the publics average percent of trust in NGOs, business, government and the media. Argentina and Japan shared a 39 percent score with Britain on average trust.
The UK also came last out of the 28 countries surveyed for distrust in the media, third last in distrust for the government and fourth last in distrust for NGOs.
One X user called it a “devastating indictment of the total collapse in public trust in institutions in the UK”.
PR firm Edelman published the report ahead of the World Economic Forum this week as a means of showing public response and trust in innovation.
The UK came in the top four of global countries who believe innovation is poorly managed, whilst the US topped public distrust in innovation. Public resistance to innovation was also analysed in relation to right or left political leaning, with far greater resistance reported on the right than the left, especially in the US.
However, in an ironic twist, the PR firm itself has been recently called out for its link with anti-climate action campaigner Charles Koch, despite pledging numerous climate declarations. Edelman was among the highest paid vendors in 2022 to the Charles Koch Foundation, with climate advocates calling into question the truth in its climate commitments.
But the chart poses a none-the-less eye-opening analysis to the changing sentiment of the British public on trusting institutions.
(Image credit: Diliff – Creative Commons)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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