MPs' expenses scandal has mixed results - March 3, 2010

Decline in relevance of Parliament - but Parliament ‘worthwhile'

Increase in dissatisfaction with MPs in general - but not own MP

The 2010 Hansard Society annual Audit of Political Engagement published today shows that while the MPs' expenses scandal has affected the public's satisfaction with and perception of MPs and the Westminster Parliament, there has not been a collapse of trust in politicians or politics.

Most significantly, there has been a big decline since the first Audit in 2004 in the perceived impact of the Westminster Parliament on people's lives, compared to other institutions. Only 19% think Parliament is one of the top three influential institutions on their everyday lives - an 11% drop from 2004. But 60% still think Parliament is ‘worthwhile', compared to only 14% who disagree.

There has been no overall collapse of trust in politicians - 26% say they trust politicians generally compared to 27% in 2004 and 73% say they distrust politicians compared to 70% in 2004. Because levels of trust were already low, the MPs' expenses scandal merely confirmed and hardened the public's widely held scepticism about politicians rather than changed their views.

Public dissatisfaction with how MPs in general do their jobs has risen by 8% since 2004 - from 36% to 44% - but dissatisfaction with how individual MPs do their job has risen by only 3% - from 13% to 16%. Twice as many people (38%) are satisfied with the way that their own MP does his/her job than are dissatisfied.

While 71% of people say they have discussed MPs' expenses in the last year, only 41% say they have discussed politics or political news. The gap between these figures raises questions as to why people do not regard MPs' expenses as a ‘political' issue and may go some way towards explaining why the MPs' expenses scandal has had such mixed results in terms of trust and satisfaction with MPs and Parliament.

The report also looked at public attitudes to voting: 76% say it is their duty to vote, but only 54% say they are absolutely certain to vote in the general election. Using statistical techniques the Audit divides the public into eight segments and looks at the ‘voting gap' for each group - the difference between each group's ‘duty to vote' and their ‘certainty to vote'. There are two groups of people who politicians and political parties should concentrate on to improve turnout:

• The ‘politically contented' (6% of British adults) where 92% have a ‘duty to vote' but only 55% have a ‘certainty to vote'. This group are mostly middle class and are generally fairly positive about politics and more trusting of and satisfied with politicians. They may be more open than most to positive efforts to engage with them.
• The ‘disengaged/mistrustful' (24% of British adults) where 60% have a ‘duty to vote' and 24% have a ‘certainty to vote'. This group are mainly young and working class. They are more likely to be mistrustful of politicians but are not alienated or hostile. At 24% of the population, they are too large to ignore and present opportunities for targeted engagement initiatives.

The Audit concludes that if the gap between ‘duty to vote' and ‘certainty to vote' could be narrowed for these groups, electoral turnout might increase by approximately 6% overall.

Dr Ruth Fox, Director of the Hansard Society's Parliament and Government programme, commented:  ‘There is no silver bullet to resolve the public's lack of trust in MPs and dissatisfaction with how they do their jobs. The public have long been sceptical about the motives of politicians and the expenses situation has merely confirmed their views.  But the fact that the public now perceive Parliament to be a less relevant institution than previously is a worrying development that the new intake of MPs after the election must address.'

‘Our research suggests that part of the solution may lie in a long term commitment to improve public knowledge about how Parliament and our political system works. The Audit demonstrates that increased familiarity leads to improved favourability.'

The Audit results this year, as in previous years, reveal the complex nature of public attitudes to politics and political engagement and how, at times, they point in contradictory directions.'

For further information, contact Virginia Gibbons at the Hansard Society on 020 7438 1225 or 07812 765 552

Editors' Notes

• The Hansard Society is the UK's leading independent, non-partisan political research and education charity. We aim to strengthen parliamentary democracy and encourage greater public involvement in politics.
•  Audit of Political Engagement 7 is the seventh Audit in a series which started in 2004, produced jointly by the Hansard Society and the Electoral Commission. This year's is the third Audit produced solely by the Hansard Society, with funding from the House of Commons and the Ministry of Justice.

• The information in Audit of Political Engagement 7 is based on a Political Engagement Poll undertaken by Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute on behalf of the Hansard Society. Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 944 adults aged 18+ in Great Britain. Interviewing took place face-to-face, in respondents' homes, between 13 -19 November 2009. An additional 83 interviews were conducted with BME adults using the same methodology. Additionally, 79 interviews were carried out in Scotland and 51 in Wales.  In total, 1,156 interviews were conducted and the data has been weighted to the national population profile.