London Evening Standard/London

 

Politicians are bottom in a league table of people trusted to tell the truth, an exclusive Ipsos MORI poll revealed.

Bankers and journalists, some of whom have been mired in scandals, emerge as more trusted not to lie than politicians in general.

And in a stunning blow to the prestige of the political elite, a third of voters believe that the criminal dishonesty of former Cabinet minister Chris Huhne, who now faces going to prison, is typical of most or all of them.

Just 18% trust politicians in general to tell the truth — and only 23% trust MPs specifically.

Bankers and journalists are trusted by 21%, despite the City rate- fixing scandals and phone-hacking by some newspapers.

Doctors come top of the trust league, with 89% of people saying they “trust them to tell the truth”, followed by teachers (86%), scientists (83%) and judges (82%).

But seven in 10 people do not trust MPs to tell the truth, Ipsos MORI researchers discovered. Six in 10 do not think most MPs “have a high personal moral code”.

The damning findings show that Westminster’s reputation has yet to recover from the battering received during the Parliamentary expenses scandals that broke in 2009.

Archives reveal that in 1985 a total of 42% agreed the nation’s MPs had a high moral code and just 35% disagreed.

Now the picture is reversed, with only 36% agreeing that MPs have a code and a clear majority, 59%, thinking they do not.

All three main party leaders are described as “not trustworthy” by more people than those who consider them fit to be trusted.

For David Cameron the divide is 51% “not trustworthy” against 43%. For Labour’s Ed Miliband the figures are 46% to 40%.

Nick Clegg comes last of the three — but he has at least managed partly to rebuild his reputation from the damage caused by the broken Liberal Democrat pledge on university fees.

In April 2010, just a month before he took office, he was seen as trustworthy by 66% of the public and not trustworthy by just 24%.

In December that year, the month of the U-turn, his rating had collapsed to 25% trustworthy and 61% not.

Clegg is now regarded as trustworthy by 34%, while 56% disagree. It suggests that voter anger has worn off, perhaps helped by his “I’m sorry” video and Call Clegg radio show. Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: “These results show once again the disconnect that exists between voters and their perception of the political elite.”