UK public more confident about the EU than the government, survey finds

People in the UK are more confident in the EU than their own government and parliament, according to a new survey published on Thursday. 

Only 24% of Britons said they had “quite a lot of confidence” in their government in the 2022 World Values Survey (WVS), a global study that explores people’s values and beliefs. 

Confidence in the UK government has been decreasing since 2017 and is one of the lowest among the European countries included in the survey. 

The survey published by The Policy Institute at King’s College London found that there has been an ever-increasing UK confidence in the EU in Britain, ever since the 2016 vote to leave the 27-nation block.  

The increase in confidence in the EU was reflected in the percentage of UK respondents that were disappointed by Brexit. 

Some 49% of the UK public were likely to express disappointment over UK’s vote to exit the EU, compared to 24% who were likely to be happy, the survey found. 

Confidence in the EU was only higher in Spain compared to Scotland (50%), while the English figure matched that of the UK at 39%. 

In addition to the fall in confidence towards the government, the survey also pointed out the UK public’s decreasing confidence towards the police, the parliament, and the press.