Is this surprising? UK Local Government: About 75% of Britons Feel Little or No Influence Over Local Decisions

Only 23% of Britons say they have any influence over decisions in their local area. About three-quarters (75%) say they have little or no influence over local decisions; 23% say they have at least some; ~2% don’t know.” That stark finding comes from new research by King’s College London’s Policy Institute, Ipsos UK and the LSE.

When asked which bodies from a list of 19 are least likely to put residents’ interests first, local councils topped the list: 28% of respondents singled out their council, tying it with private rental landlords at 27%. (Next on the list were government benefits offices at 26%, utility providers at 24% and the police at 22%.) In other words, councils rank alongside private landlords as the least-trusted institutions for serving the public.

Should anyone really be surprised that trust in local leaders has collapsed? Here in Kent, figures such as KCC’s new leader, Cllr Linden Kemkaran (Reform), her chief executive Amanda Beer, or at district level Folkestone & Hythe’s Cllr Jim Martin and chief executive Dr. Susan Priest, inspire little confidence. The public mood is one of resignation, even contempt. A majority of Britons (54%) now say people like them have no power to change how the country is run. Among Reform voters—ironically the party claiming to speak for the “voiceless”—the sense of exclusion is most acute: 72% feel completely shut out from national decision-making. Almost half (43%) say they wield no influence even over local decisions, a bleak indictment of councils that claim to listen. Just 12% of the public believe they can shape national policy in any way at all. The stark reality is that fewer than one in four people now think their vote or activism can change the way Britain is governed—down sharply from one in three in 2018. In other words, democracy itself is draining away, and leaders at every level are doing little to stem the collapse in trust.

Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute, said the findings reveal “three worrying signs” for British democracy. First, the public’s sense of control is shrinking: only 25% now believe that getting involved in politics can change how the UK is run (versus 32% in 2018). Second, certain groups feel almost entirely powerless – notably non-voters and Reform UK supporters – which helps explain their appeal for “strong leaders and radical policies” when they feel they have little to lose. And third, confidence in public services has collapsed: belief that services will listen to complaints has roughly halved since 2002. Duffy warns this is critical because how public bodies respond to problems is a key measure of government “delivery,” and rebuilding that trust will be very difficult if the public already assumes no one is listening.

Professor Tony Travers of the LSE School of Public Policy added that “powerlessness is corrosive”. He cautioned that major parties risk alienating voters if people feel neither Whitehall nor council officials care about their needs: “If people feel they can’t get public services to work for them because Whitehall and council officials appear not to care, there will be consequences for political parties and for the willingness of people to pay taxes.”. In short, the study suggests that rising public frustration — especially at the local level — could further undermine trust in democracy and make governance more challenging.

The Shepway Vox Team

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