Why Better Parliament is needed
Representative democracy depends on more than elections. It also depends on people having confidence that their representatives exercise judgement responsibly, consider the public interest and can explain their decisions.
Independent research suggests that this confidence is weak. Surveys consistently find low trust in politicians and government, while many people feel that their elected representatives do not care about people like them.
Better Parliament begins with a simple proposition: people should be able to understand how important decisions were reached, even when they disagree with them.
What the evidence tells us
Trust in politicians’ honesty
In the 2025 Ipsos Veracity Index, just 9% of people in Great Britain said they trusted politicians to tell the truth. This equalled the lowest figure recorded for politicians since the index began in 1983.
Read the Ipsos Veracity Index 2025
National interest and party interest
The British Social Attitudes survey found that, in 2024, only 12% of respondents trusted governments to put the nation’s needs before their party’s interests always or most of the time. 46% said they almost never did.
For comparison, when the question was asked in 1986, the respective figures were 40% and 12%.
Read NatCen’s British Social Attitudes report
Do representatives care?
In an Electoral Commission survey conducted in December 2024, 54% of respondents said elected representatives did not care about people like them. 22% said they did.
This points to a concern beyond honesty alone: many people also feel distant from those elected to represent them.
Read the Electoral Commission’s 2025 findings
Trust in government and political parties
In an OECD survey conducted in 2025 and published in 2026, 33% of UK respondents reported high or moderately high trust in national government, compared with an OECD average of 40%. Trust in political parties stood at 24%.
Read the OECD’s United Kingdom findings
These surveys ask different questions and measure different aspects of trust. Their results should therefore be considered alongside one another rather than combined into a single figure.
What election turnout tells us
Turnout at the 2024 UK general election was 59.7% of registered electors, according to the House of Commons Library. This was the lowest turnout at a general election since 2001.
The Electoral Commission reports that negative views of politicians and parties contribute to some people’s decisions not to vote. But there are many other reasons why people do not vote, including illness, work, being away or practical difficulties. Turnout alone cannot tell us how many people distrust the political system.
Read the House of Commons Library analysis
Read the Electoral Commission’s election report
Confidence in elections can remain strong
Low trust in politicians does not mean that people have abandoned confidence in every part of democracy. Following the 2024 general election, 83% of people surveyed by the Electoral Commission said they were confident that the election was well run.
That distinction matters. Better Parliament seeks to build on democratic institutions by improving the openness, accountability and quality of political judgement.
Read the Electoral Commission’s election report
The Better Parliament response
Better Parliament proposes that important public decisions should be supported by an explanation that citizens can understand and scrutinise. Depending on the decision, that explanation should make clear:
- The purpose: what problem is being addressed and what outcome is sought.
- The evidence: what information was used and what remains uncertain.
- The alternatives: which credible options were considered, including doing nothing where appropriate.
- The consequences: who may benefit, who may bear costs or risks, and what trade-offs arise.
- The judgement: why the chosen course was preferred.
- Review: how the outcome will be assessed and what might justify a change of course.
The aim is not to guarantee agreement. It is to give citizens a better opportunity to understand, question and assess decisions and the judgement behind them.
Testing the approach
The evidence on this page demonstrates why political trust and accountability deserve attention. It does not prove that Better Parliament’s proposals will rebuild trust.
That is a question for practical testing. As the project develops, it should examine whether clearer decision records and explanations improve people’s understanding, their ability to scrutinise choices and their perceptions of accountability.