UK government trust rises, but priorities out of step with public

The change in government last year has helped to partially restore faith in public services, according to a new study. However, the Keir Starmer administration’s agenda, pushing growth and immigration to the forefront of policy, is out of step with the public’s priorities of tackling the country’s cost of living crisis, and repairing long-term damage done to the NHS by the previous government.

Public trust in the UK government had taken a number of serious knocks over the last decade. There was Teresa May’s wrongful deportation of at least 83 members of the Windrush generation; the pandemic-era Partygate which eventually toppled the premiership of Boris Johnson; the catastrophic 45-day micro-tenure of Liz Truss; and the various allegations of tax avoidance that plagued Rishi Sunak and his family while he took office.

Last summer represented at least a momentary re-set for public relations with the government, according to a new poll by Deloitte. Working with Ipsos MORI, the Big Four firm spent the end of 2024 surveying 5,700 adults across the UK, to find out what their attitudes toward the public sector were.

Deloitte’s study found that across the board, people felt more inclined to trust the government on a range of issues, than they had been a year before. For example, there had been a 6% increase in the number of people who trusted the UK government to take environmentally responsible decisions after the general election. The Labour Party’s landslide victory also saw similar boosts in public faith in the government’s ability to do the right thing for society, and support the needs of service users and citizens across the country.

But considering the bar had been so low, this apparent positivity is still not especially pronounced. Deloitte found that even with the new government bounce, the majority of people still did not trust the government – particularly in the cases of delivering the outcomes they wanted, or delivering major projects on time and to budget, with 67% and 69% respectively stating they still did not have much faith in the system.

The honeymoon period is now well and truly over, too. Keir Starmer’s government currently finds itself struggling in the polls – having trailed the hard-right political party Reform UK (formerly known as the Brexit Party, formerly known as UKIP). As Labour seeks to turn its prospects around, much of the emphasis has been on courting Reform’s voters by taking a more openly anti-immigrant tone, and doubling down on promises for economic growth. But Deloitte’s findings suggest this is missing the bigger picture.

As prominent as immigration has been in UK political discourse for the last two decades, it is still not close to being the most important issue for voters. While another half-year of feverish coverage of refugee boats and Islamophobic fearmongering, less than half of UK adults see immigration as a top priority for the UK government. And even though the government continues to set out its stall according to a ‘growth agenda’ – which includes preventing councils from blocking planning permission for colossal new data centres in their area – the portion of the public which cares about ‘growth’ has actually fallen by 1% in the last year, to 43%.  

In comparison, 74% say that tackling the cost of living is a key concern for them. While inflation has slowed from its record levels of two years ago, that does not mean prices have fallen back to old rates. In fact, they continue to climb steadily, meaning wage growth is still a long way from allowing the average household to claw back the spending power it lost at the height of the crisis. Meanwhile, the NHS also remains a top priority. A 71% majority said it should be the highest point on the government’s agenda.

Commenting on the findings, Charlotte Pickles, director at Reform Think Tank, stated, “The arrival of a new government has brought with it a bump in public optimism, but it is clear that this must be matched with effective delivery. The public want to see progress on the NHS and cost of living, and are also increasingly concerned by national security and immigration. Public service leaders are equally concerned with translating plans and reviews into action. The government must capitalise on the desire for change by implementing bold reforms – which means ruthless prioritisation and a laser focus on frontline outcomes.”