Almost nine out of ten people would put their trust in a GP, higher than for any other profession including judges, school teachers and police officers, a YouGov tracker poll has found.
In all, 87% of people said they trust a family doctor to tell the truth, compared with 79% for teachers, 73% for police officers on the local beat and 70% for judges.
Trust in GPs was up from the latest poll, carried out in July, when it stood at 86% and trust has remained high throughout the survey’s lifespan, with a low of 81% in 2013 and a high of 93% in 2003.
By contrast, politicians are faring badly in the opinion poll, with only around a fifth placing their trust in them. This month, 22% said they would expect Government politicians to speak the truth.
The poll asked people ‘how much do you trust the following to tell the truth?’, with the percentages reflecting how many responded either ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’:
- Family doctors (87%)
- School trachers (79%)
- Local police officers (73%)
- Judges (70%)
- Senior police officers (54%)
- People who run large charities (42%)
- My local MP (36%) / Journalists on upmarket newspapers (e.g. Times, Telegraph, Guardian) (36%)
- Trade union leaders (27%)
- Leading Labour politicians (23%) / People who run large companies (23%)
- Leading Conservative politicians (22%)
- Leading Liberal Democrat politicians (20%)
- Journalists on ‘mid-market’ newspapers (e.g. Daily Mail, Express) (16%)
- Journalists on ‘red-top’ tabloid newspapers (e.g. Sun, Mirror) (8%)
