Brits have same level of trust in political system as Russians, survey finds

Sign up for our free email at Brexit and beyond for the latest headlines on what Brexit means for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest newsPlease enter a valid email addressPlease enter a valid email addressI want to be notified by email about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}An error has occurred. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The UK is on par with Russia for trust in its political system, according to a global survey that places Britain in the bottom half of country.

Only one in six British voters (17%) say they are very satisfied with the way the political system works, with twice that proportion (32%) saying they are dissatisfied.

L he analysis of 23 countries, by the Policy Institute at King's College London (KCL), was carried out as part of the World Values ​​Survey, one of the largest and most widely used academic social surveys in the world .

The data was collected in 2022 - a tumultuous year that saw Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson expelled by his own party, before Liz Truss' disastrous premier lasted just six weeks.< /p>

Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the KCL Policy Institute, said: "Support for the idea of ​​democracy is extremely high and growing in the UK - but we are much less convinced by the way it's working for us right now.

"The vast majority say democracy is a good idea and important, but only 17% of us are very happy with how our political system works now, which which puts us in the bottom half of the international rankings. »

The United Kingdom ranks near the bottom of the countries analyzed for trust in the political system and is similar to satisfaction levels in Russia (16%), Mexico (17%) and the Nigeria (15%).

It lags far behind countries like Norway (41%), Canada (36%) and Germany (36%) - although they come higher than France (13%), the US (12%)

Northern Ireland is by far the least satisfied part of the UK, with only 8% saying they are very satisfied with politics and 56% dissatisfied, as the deadlock in Stormont over the DUP's opposition to post-Brexit trade deals rumbles.

However, British support for democracy has grown over the past two decades, those who think this is a very good or fairly good way to govern the country 90% in 2022, up from 76% in 1999.

"There is no evidence here that people in the UK are fed up with the principle of democracy and are becoming more open to authoritarian models of government," Professor Duffy said.

"It is true that millennials seemed less enthusiastic about the demos...