Distrust in the Scottish Government surged in the course of a year, according to a study. The 2023 Scottish household survey found 45 per cent of people polled said they distrusted the Government – up from 38 per cent in 2022.
Another 45 per cent said they trusted the Scottish Government. The Government was the most distrusted institution on the survey, with all others being trusted by a majority of Scots.
The data follows a turbulent year in Scottish politics, with the police investigation into the SNP’s finances still ongoing. Last year, Nicola Sturgeon also resigned as first minister. She was later arrested but was released without charge, pending further investigation.
Despite falling support for the Scottish Government, support for other institutions remained high. Some 53 per cent of respondents to the Scottish household survey said they trusted local government. This was compared to 35 per cent who expressed distrust.
The most trusted public institution was the health system, with 78 per cent of respondents saying they trusted it, compared to just 18 per cent who did not. This was followed by police, which 73 per cent of people said they trusted, compared to 16 per cent who expressed distrust.
The education system (62 per cent), the civil service (56 per cent) and the justice system (53 per cent) all had a majority trust rating. The study, released by the Scottish Government on Monday, also found ethnic minority Scots were far more likely to trust the Government compared to other groups.
Some 65 per cent of people who said they were part of a “minority ethnic group”, along with 61 per cent who identified as “white: other”, said they trusted the Government. The figure is much higher compared to Scots who said they were “white – Scottish” (44 per cent) and “white – other British” (38 per cent).
The survey found young Scots and those living in urban areas were far more likely to back the Government in Edinburgh than their older and rural counterparts. While only 36 per cent of adults over the age of 60 expressed trust in the Scottish Government, that number rose to 56 per cent for those aged 16 to 34.
Almost half (49 per cent) of adults in urban areas said they trusted the Government but only 38 per cent of people from rural areas agreed. The release of the study comes after the Scottish social attitudes survey in July which found that trust in the Scottish Government had fallen to a record low.
Results from the 2023 survey show the percentage who said they trust the Scottish Government “just about always” or “most of the time” fell to 47 per cent – down from 61 per cent in 2019, the last time a comparable survey was conducted.
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