Satisfaction with politics at a 15-year low but significant support for authoritarianism in the UK

Banks would be more trusted to carry out Brexit than MPs

People are so fucked off at politicians that public dissatisfaction with government is higher than in the aftermath of the MPs' expenses scandal. An authoritative annual study into political engagement found unhappiness with politics is at its highest level since the audit started 15 years ago. The Hansard Society's audit of political engagement most worrying finding is more than half of British people said the UK was in decline and in need of "a strong leader who is willing to break the rules." [caption id="attachment_226870" align="alignnone" width="2048"] On March 29 people descended on Westminster to protest the government's handling of Brexit (Credit: Getty)[/caption] 1,198 people were surveyed and nearly 75 per cent of them said the UK's system of government needed significant improvement, 40 per cent they could support new, radical parties and 79 per cent they had little to no confidence in current political parties' ability to resolve the Brexit crisis. Ipsos-Mori conducted the poll in December, well before Theresa May even brought her draft withdrawal agreement to the Commons for the first time. Indicative votes yet to be held. One wonders what difference the last three months would make. [caption id="attachment_226873" align="alignnone" width="1000"] The Hansard Society's audit found a woeful lack of trust in politicians (Credit: Jessica Taylor)[/caption] 72 per cent of respondents said the system of government required "quite a lot" or a "great deal" of improvement. It's the first time that indicator has exceeded 70 per cent, beating the previous high of 69 per cent in 2010 in the wake of the expenses scandal. The audit's authors wrote that some of their findings "challenge core tenets of our democracy." 54 per cent of participants agreed "Britain needs a strong ruler willing to break the rules" while only only 23 per cent said no. 42 per cent said national problems could be dealt with more effectively "if the government didn’t have to worry so much about votes in parliament." Confidence levels in judges, the civil service and banks was higher than for MPs and government ministers. Hope not Hate's Rosie Carter said: "We are facing a crisis of political mistrust. And when people do not trust traditional political systems, they look elsewhere. That’s when support for political extremes grows." Ruth Fox, the director of the Hansard Society, said: "Preferring a strong leader who is willing to break the rules, or thinking that the government should be able to tackle the country’s problems without worrying about the approval of parliament, would challenge core tenets of our democracy. "The public feel strongly that the system of governing favours the rich and powerful and that political parties don’t care about the average person. And people are not confident that politicians act in the public interest. Unless something changes, this is a potentially toxic recipe for the future of British politics."