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As pressure mounts on the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, members of his party are considering their options. Should they topple him or keep him? Those who want him out fear that the public will not forgive the string of alleged听听held in Downing Street while the rest of the country lived under strict COVID lockdowns. Their anger may cost the Conservatives dearly at the next election. Those who are hesitating do so because Johnson had been such an electoral success story before this scandal.

We at the 果冻影院 Constitution Unit are conducting a major study of public attitudes to democracy in the UK that sheds new light on what matters most to voters. Our听latest findings听from a large-scale survey of the UK population conducted last summer suggest Conservative MPs are right to be concerned about the fallout of 鈥減artygate鈥�. Integrity is extremely important to voters. It is in fact valued above all other traits in a politician.

When we asked about a range of characteristics that politicians should have, 鈥渂eing honest鈥� came top. This was followed by 鈥渙wning up when they make mistakes鈥�. 鈥淕etting things done鈥� and 鈥渂eing inspiring鈥� were far behind.

Johnson has a trademark tactic 鈥� seen repeatedly at Prime Minister鈥檚 Questions 鈥� of batting away critics by saying he is focused on delivering the people鈥檚 priorities. When asked about any potentially questionable behaviour or incidents, he insists that members of the public care more about听听than it does about anything else.

However, our findings suggest otherwise. When we asked respondents to 鈥渋magine that a future prime minister has to choose between acting honestly and delivering the policy that most people want鈥�, 71% chose honesty and only 16% delivery. When we asked whether respondents agreed more that 鈥渉ealthy democracy requires that politicians always act within the rules鈥� or that 鈥渉ealthy democracy means getting things done, even if that sometimes requires politicians to break the rules鈥�, 75% chose the former and just 6% the latter.

Our survey of the UK population suggested that 71% value honesty from the prime minister, and that power may be concentrated in too few hands.听

It is worth repeating that these findings come from the summer 鈥� before the听听and 鈥減artygate鈥�. They are not knee-jerk reactions to short-term headlines. The vast majority of voters expect politicians to act honestly and follow the rules.

Limiting power at the very top

Another less obvious but equally important pattern emerged from our findings. Voters do not want power to be unduly concentrated in the hands of the prime minister and their government. Many favour at least somewhat greater powers for parliament 鈥� 45% think MPs should decide what the House of Commons debates, against 30% who think the prime minister or government should do so.

Even more clearly, and perhaps听, most want judges to constrain ministers too. We asked respondents to 鈥渋magine there is a dispute over whether the government has the legal authority to decide a particular matter on its own or whether it needs parliament鈥檚 approval鈥�, and to consider how the dispute should be settled. Most (51%) said it should be settled by judges and only 27% chose government ministers or politicians in parliament. We also asked about whether judges should play a role in resolving whether a new law violates rights. Depending on the rights that we asked about, between 65% and 77% of respondents said that the courts should have their current powers under the Human Rights Act or even be given stronger powers to strike down laws directly.

A large majority also said that civil servants should be 鈥渘eutral and permanent government employees鈥� rather than 鈥渁ppointed by the government of the day鈥�. And most respondents thought that someone who had previously said听听should be neutral in its reporting could be a suitable candidate for BBC chair, but that someone who had said the BBC should be less critical of government could not.

The reason for these answers appears clear: most people don鈥檛 trust politicians, and they trust the politicians closest to power least. They therefore welcome limits on what those in power can do.

Our study is investigating public attitudes to democracy not only through surveys, but also through a citizens鈥� assembly, which shows whether people think the same or differently once they have thought and learnt about the issues in depth. We will publish full results of the听Citizens鈥� Assembly on Democracy in the UK听in the spring. But initial findings fit the survey responses closely. Assembly members said 鈥渨e feel dissatisfied with how democracy is working in the UK today because there is a lack of honesty and integrity in politics鈥�. By large majorities, they favoured greater powers for parliament and the courts vis-脿-vis the executive.

However the current ructions in the Conservative Party pan out in the coming weeks, those in power should be clear: people in the UK expect their leaders to act with integrity 鈥� and they expect a system of checks and balances on executive power to be maintained. A leader who violates these principles harms him or herself and damages confidence in democracy.

This article first appeared in听The Conversation听on 26听January 2022.

Links

• Read the full report:听What Kind of Democracy Do People Want?
• Citizens' Assembly on Democracy in the UK
• Democracy in the UK after Brexit
• 果冻影院 Constitution Unit
• 果冻影院 Political Science