The UK is on a par with Russia for confidence in how the political system is functioning – ranking in the bottom half of countries, a global survey has found. Just one in six (17%) of the British public who were polled say they are highly satisfied with how the political system is functioning, with double this proportion (32%) saying they are dissatisfied.
The analysis of 23 countries, by the Policy Institute at King’s College London (KCL), was carried out as part of the World Values Survey (WVS) – one of the largest and most widely used academic social surveys in the world. The latest UK data was collected in 2022, a year in which Boris Johnson stood down as prime minister after his government was investigated for Covid breaches during lockdown, while Liz Truss held the position for 44 days before resigning.
The UK ranks among the lowest of the countries analysed and is similar to satisfaction levels in Russia (16%), Mexico (17%) and Nigeria (15%). It sits far behind the likes of Norway (41%), Canada (36%) and Germany (36%) – but comes higher than France (13%), the US (12%) and Italy (12%).
