Britons have faith in family doctors, school teachers and people who run national charities, but are a lot more dubious when it comes to journalists, estate agents and politicians, our survey reveals.
- Family doctors are considered the most reliable members of society, trusted to tell the truth by 85% of the population.
- School teachers come in second in the top five of trustworthiness, with 76% of Brits believing their every word, followed by people who run national charities (67%), local police officers (66%) and judges (63%).
However, we don’t consider all professions to be so dependable.
- When it comes to tabloid journalists Brits are sure to take headlines with a pinch of salt. Just ten percent of the population trust the people who write for red-tops (down five percent from March 2008), compared to 83% of who say they have little or no trust at all in them.
- Unsurprisingly, estate agents are not considered particularly reliable either, distrusted by 79% of the population and trusted by just 14%.
- Other groups that we are suspicious of include senior officials in the European Union (distrusted by 73%), journalists on mid-market newspapers (71%) and leading Labour politicians (70%). Other groups we are more likely to trust than mistrust are BBC journalists and senior police officers, but when it comes to people we are less likely to believe the list is extensive. Senior civil servants in Whitehall, senior council officials, NHS hospital managers, people than run large companies and trade union leaders are all more likely to inspire cynicism rather than faith.Survey details and full results
Trust tracker
