Reform UK are the party most associated with being patriotic and offering radical change, but also being weird and extreme
Over the party conference season, YouGov has looked at how Britons see each of the five main political parties in turn, focussing on the areas in which the public trust them. Now, with the season drawing to a close, let’s compare how the British public see the major parties.
Which party do Britons associate most with certain characteristics?
When looking at common descriptions for parties, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for Reform UK. On the one hand, they are, by clear margins, the party Britons most associate with being patriotic (35% vs 2-8% for other parties), doing the most to set the political agenda (36% vs 1-9%) and understanding the problems facing the country (25% vs 4-10%).
At present, Reform UK are also seen as being the most likely to be the largest party after the next general election, with 35% expecting them to emerge on top, compared to 15% expecting so of Labour and 7% of the Conservatives.
On the other hand, nearly six in ten Britons (58%) say Reform UK are the party they most associate with holding extreme views, while 35% say Reform UK are the weirdest party, a title that belongs to the Greens for 20% of the public.
Britons also tend to say Reform UK are the party they most associate with offering radical change (37%), again followed by the Greens (11%). However, whether radical change is a positive or not is more in the eye of the beholder.
The public are more split when it comes to which party seems the most like normal people. While one in six (17%) would give the label to Reform UK, 13% would most associate normality with the Lib Dems, 10% with Labour, 8% with the Greens and just 5% with the Conservatives. Three in ten Britons (30%), though, say no party seem like normal people.
Which parties do Britons believe best represent key social groups?
A key battle over party image in recent years has been the desire to be seen as the party of the working class, with Nigel Farage earlier this year saying that Reform UK now had that title, not Labour. Britons are fairly evenly split on the question, with 22% most associating Labour with representing working class people and 19% doing so with Reform UK, although 28% feel there is no party that best fits the bill.
However, C2DEs, those classed as living in working class households, are not so evenly split, believing that Reform UK rather than Labour most represent working class people by 22% to 15%, alongside 30% who say no such party exists.
When it comes to the middle classes, there is less divergence. Three in ten of both the wider public and middle class households themselves (29-31%) most associate the Conservatives with representing middle class people, ahead of the Lib Dems (12-15%), Labour (10-11%) and Reform UK (10-11%).
With age increasingly the strongest divide in British politics, some parties are now associated with one end of the generational divide. For instance, while the British public are most likely to associate the Conservatives most with representing older people (29%), only 2% see them as the party that most represents younger people.
By comparison, the Greens are seen as the top party for younger people by 33% of the public, but as the party that most represents older people by just 1%.
But while younger Britons tend to agree with the assessment of the wider public, with 33% of 18-24 year olds seeing the Greens as the party that most represents younger people, followed by Labour on 13%, older Britons are more divided on who best represents them. Just 21% of the over 65s most associate the Tories with representing older people, with 16% instead doing so of Reform UK and a much greater 36% saying that no party best represents older Britons.
Which parties to Britons trust most in key areas?
As well as being seen to represent certain groups, parties often hope to make themselves the most trusted on key issues.
But reflecting the increasingly fragmented party system, in only two of the 18 areas polled are any party the top choice for more than a fifth of Britons – Reform UK on immigration (31%) and the Greens on the environment (34%).
In other areas, the public are more divided, though there are still some relative ‘favourites’. Among those who choose a party, Reform UK hold statistically significant leads on being trusted to represent ‘people like you’ (9 points), crime (8pts), keeping promises (7pts) and running local councils (4pts).
The Conservatives hold a six-point lead on being the most trusted to support businesses, while Labour have a five-point lead over other parties when it comes to the NHS.
In many areas, though, those saying they trust no party outnumber those backing any individual party. This is particularly true on keeping promises, with 39% of the public saying they trust no party to fulfil its pledges.
In which areas do Britons trust the main political parties?
But which party is most trusted in a particular area can only tell part of the story, as it is possible to trust more than one party on something at the same time.
Across the 18 areas polled for all five parties, only the Greens on the environment command the confidence of a majority of Britons, with 54% of the public trusting them at least a fair amount on the issue, 21 points more than any other party. The Greens are also relatively trusted to protect minorities (38% trust them) and keep promises (32%), but are the least trusted party on defence (17%).
For Reform UK, immigration is again their stand-out area, with 41% of the public trusting them on the issue, compared to just 15-23% having faith in any of the other major parties on the matter. Nigel Farage’s party is also particularly trusted when it comes to crime, with 34% of Britons trusting them, relative to 21-23% for the other four parties. Alongside the Conservatives, they are noticeably less likely to be trusted to protect minorities.
The Conservatives are the party the highest number of Britons are willing to trust when it comes to supporting businesses (36% trusting them) or on defence (35%). Neither Labour nor the Lib Dems are more trusted than other parties in any area.
Some of the lowest trust scores in any area come on keeping promises, with just 14-15% of the public trusting Labour or the Conservatives to keep their word. But it is economic areas where a lack of trust is arguably more universal, with no party holding the trust of more than 27% of Britons on managing the economy or taxation, as well as to form an effective government.
In which areas do different voters trust the main political parties?
The increasingly multi-party nature of trust can also be seen within voter groups. Conservative voters, for instance, are much more likely to trust Reform UK (64%) than the Conservatives (39%) on immigration, with Nigel Farage’s party also running the Tories close among the latter’s voters on keeping promises (44% vs 43%), poverty (40% vs 40%), crime (54% vs 55%), representing people like you (51% vs 54%) and the NHS (44% vs 49%).
Additionally, nearly as many Conservative voters trust the Greens on the environment (41%) as trust the Tories (46%).
For Labour, trust among their electorate is even less exclusive, with Labour voters having similar levels of trust in the Lib Dems and Greens in many areas. In fact, only in four of our 18 areas – crime, defence, forming an effective government, and representing the UK abroad – is Labour voters’ trust in the party at least 10 points higher than their trust in either the Lib Dems or Greens.
This is balanced by Labour voters trusting the Greens significantly more than Labour on the environment (72% vs 43%), poverty (49% vs 38%), keeping promises (45% vs 35%) and protecting minority groups (55% vs 47%).
By contrast, Reform UK voters are more likely to trust Reform UK than any other party in all 18 areas by significant margins.
Nonetheless, significant minorities of Reform UK voters trust the Conservatives on defence (43%), supporting businesses (43%) and representing the UK abroad (37%), while 40% trust both the Conservatives and Labour to protect minorities, and 36% trust the Greens on the environment.
See the full results:
Trust in Reform UK (26-27 August)
Trust in Liberal Democrats (28-29 August)
Trust in Labour (31 August-1 September)
Trust in Conservatives (4-5 September)
Trust in Greens (7-8 September)
Most trusted party (8-9 September)
Which party do you most trust to represent people like you? What do you think about the political parties in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
