Metric permalink
Trust in national government
Part of the Trust and Wellbeing domain. Percentage of adults reporting that they trust the national government, a headline indicator of democratic legitimacy and civic confidence.
Latest data
Latest reading
Jun 2026
Change between the two latest observations (Mar 2026 to Jun 2026), in stress score.
A lower reading is treated as worse for this indicator.
Score composition
Stress score
Since the September 2026 release
What changed on this indicator between the two releases: new observation, source changed.
Blended from two measured components: (2/3 weight) and trend (1/3 weight); where no trend can be computed the metric is scored on its level alone. Volatility is published as a diagnostic and does not enter the blend. Full formula on the methodology page.
Level · 2/3 weight
Bounds: scored against fixed best/worst limits, used until a metric has about eight years of verified data to rank against.
Trend · 1/3 weight
Measured from the direction and size of the change between the two most recent readings.
Volatility · diagnostic, not blended
50Provisional: fewer than four historical readings are available, so this defaults to a mid range score rather than a measured figure.
Data confidence and provenance
Confidence and source
How much weight to put on the reading, the mean data-confidence across the component metrics (source quality, recency and completeness).
Source
Trust in government, UK
- Update frequency
- Annual
- Reliability
- medium
Provenance
- Provider
- ONS (Opinions and Lifestyle Survey)
- Series ID
- trust in national government
- Frequency
- periodic
- Accessed
- 1 October 2026
Known weakness
Annual survey data; trust measures are highly sensitive to current political events and recent scandals at the time of fieldwork, reducing reliability as a structural trend indicator.
Notes
Verified official value from ONS (Opinions and Lifestyle Survey) (trust in national government), accessed 2026-10-01.
Historical values
History
| Period | Value | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 27.9 | |
| Mar 2026 | 29.2 | |
| Jun 2026 | 25.1 |