Trust Polling
About this poll
This poll was conducted by Adam Smith Insights for the Adam Smith Institute. A total of 1,398 adults aged 18+ in Great Britain completed the survey online on 28–29 October 2026. Results are weighted to be representative of the adult population of Great Britain.
Quality checks
Responses completed in under 105 seconds were removed as low quality (the median completion time was 314 seconds).
Weighting
Results were weighted by raking to population targets for age, gender, ethnicity, region, and age combined with 2024 general election vote. Individual weights range from 0.06 to 5.00 (capped at 5).
Margin of error
After weighting, the effective sample size is 837. This gives a margin of error of ±3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level for results based on the full sample. Margins for subgroups are larger and are shown in each breakdown tab of the data tables. Polls are also subject to other sources of error, such as question wording and order.
Questions asked
Question numbers match the data tables.
- Q1. Which of these occupations do you think is the most trustworthy? (Doctors / RNLI lifeboat crews / Police / Lawyers / Bartenders / Journalists / Politicians / Online influencers / Estate agents / Used car salespeople / Don't know)
- Q2. And which of these occupations do you think is the least trustworthy? (Same options as Q1)
- Q3. If you had to pick a career for a family member, which of these would you choose? (A doctor / A scientist / An entrepreneur / A lawyer / A nurse / A banker / A school teacher / A charity worker / A social media influencer / A politician / Don't know)
- Q4. And if you had to pick a career for someone you didn't like, which of these would you choose? (Same options as Q3)
- Q5. How trustworthy or untrustworthy do you think each of the following people is? John Healey MP (Chancellor of the Exchequer); Andrew Griffith MP (Conservative Shadow Chancellor); Robert Jenrick MP (Reform UK Treasury spokesperson); Ellie Chowns MP (Green Party Treasury spokesperson); Daisy Cooper MP (Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson)
- Q6. And how trustworthy or untrustworthy do you think each of the following people is? Andy Burnham (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom); Donald Trump (President of the United States); Vladimir Putin (President of Russia); Volodymyr Zelensky (President of Ukraine); Emmanuel Macron (President of France); Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer for England); Jeremy Clarkson (TV presenter); John Cleese (comedian and actor)
- Q7. Which of these do you trust the most? (The armed forces / Charities / The BBC / The Bank of England / The courts / AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude / The civil service / Newspapers / Social media companies / Parliament / Don't know)
- Q8. And which of these do you trust the least? (Same options as Q7)
- Q9. Which of these do you feel gives you the worst deal? (Energy companies / The government / Landlords and the rental market / Water companies / The media / Supermarkets / Banks / Tech companies / Don't know)
- Q10. If the UK rejoined the European Union, how much would you trust the EU to spend the UK's contributions well?
- Q11. Respondents were asked how much they trust the government to deliver each of the following: Economic growth across the country; Stopping small boat crossings; Shorter NHS waiting times; Lower taxes for you and your family; A lower cost of living; Less crime; A stronger Britain on the world stage; Lower carbon emissions
Q5–Q6 used a five-point scale (Very trustworthy / Somewhat trustworthy / Neither / Somewhat untrustworthy / Very untrustworthy) plus Don't know. Q10–Q11 used a five-point scale (A great deal / A fair amount / Neither / Not very much / Not at all) plus Don't know.
Data tables
Download the full data tables (Excel), including breakdowns by 2024 vote, age, gender, income, region and ethnicity.
All figures are weighted. Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding.