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Politicians lose out to car salesmen

Politicians have been named the least trusted profession in a UK survey, with more people placing their faith in car salesmen. It is the first time politicians have emerged with the worst reputation in the Readers Digest study – a “dramatic” drop over five years. In 2002, 15% of respondents trusted politicians. This has now been more than halved to 7%, with 8% trusting car salesmen, according to the survey of 1,900 of the magazine’s customers.

Firefighters are the most trusted, with 97% of UK consumers putting their faith in them, followed by pharmacists, airline pilots, nurses and doctors. Trust in the police has risen by 14% in the last two years, the magazine said. Nearly three quarters of people in the UK trust the police, compared with 64% in 2005. Financial advisers have also improved their reputation, with 40% of people trusting them, 15% more than two years ago. Taxi drivers are the eighth-most trusted profession in the UK, but their reputation has slid – 49% of people trust them compared with 57% in 2005.

The results are part of a wider study which also asked consumers to name the brands they trust the most across 38 categories. British Airways emerged as the top airline, Tesco the most reputable food as well as petrol retailer, and the AA the most trusted motoring organisation. Cadbury was the top confectioner and British Gas was favourite in the utility category.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .