Less than a third of voters trust the Government’s so-called “Three Brexiteers” to “do what is right” regarding Brexit, a poll suggests.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (26%), Brexit Secretary David Davis (24%) and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox (20%) trailed Prime Minister Theresa May in the trust ratings, although she also lacked majority support and attracted 36% of support among respondents.
In a separate question, May’s trust rating following the EU referendum was 35% compared to 23% for Jeremy Corbyn - with the Labour leader having scored 28% in 2016 - while Johnson dropped from 43% in 2014 to 24% in 2017.
Addressing institutions, 18% of respondents said they trust political parties in general to “do what is right” compared to 19% for political leaders, 27% for the European Union, 55% for the British people and 88% for family.
When asked which party would they trust to “do what is right”, voters put the Conservatives top on 28% - a drop from 38% in 2016.
Labour were second with 25% (down six) followed by the Liberal Democrats with 20% (down three), Ukip on 19% (no change), Green Party on 27% (down two), SNP on 22% (down three) and Plaid Cymru on 16% (no change).
The survey states 87% of those respondents who voted Leave and 88% who voted Remain are sure of their decision six months after June’s referendum.
Support for a second referendum sits at 22% among the general population, the poll found.
The figures emerged in the annual Trust Barometer survey conducted by public relations firm Edelman.
Ed Williams, chief executive of Edelman UK, said: “If we thought 2016 was bad, 2017 could be far worse.
“The virus that has understandably destroyed trust among those who feel let down by the system has now obviously spread.
“Even those who got richer after the financial crisis exhibit declining trust in the key pillars of society - politicians, business leaders, NGOs and the media.”
Edelman said it used more than 33,000 responses from 28 countries between October 13 and November 16 for its Trust Barometer, including about 1,150 UK residents. It also carried out research with another 1,500 UK residents between December 23 and January 7.