August 2023
Featured in this insight: Central government & non-department public bodies, Local & regional government
The British public believes civil servants are more trustworthy and hardworking than government ministers: A survey of UK adults has revealed that people are more likely to see civil servants as trustworthy, hardworking, competent, and 'having the public's best interests at heart' than government ministers.
Indeed, the research revealed that while two-fifths of respondents said that civil servants are more trustworthy than ministers, just one in 10 said they are more likely to trust ministers.
The nationally representative survey by think tank More in Common polled over 2,000 respondents finding that 42% of the British public believe civil servants are hardworking, compared to just 12% who said the same about ministers. The remainder were unsure about who was the most hardworking.
More than a third of respondents said that civil servants were more likely to 'have the public's interest at heart', compared with 15% who said ministers have. Similarly, 36% said that civil servants are the 'more competent group', compared with 15% who said ministers are.
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