Most Brits would describe the UK as “broken,” according to a damning new survey in yet another blow to Keir Starmer.
Respondents also used the words such as “divided,” “struggling”, “mess,” “poorly and “badly” when asked to sum up the country to researchers at the More in Common think-tank.
It comes after the prime minister vowed to “fix the foundations” of the country following 14 years of Tory government.
Further thought on this - we’ve become somewhat inured to seeing responses like this when people are asked about the state of Britain, but it is surely not sustainable in the long term that the most popular description people use for their country is broken. pic.twitter.com/RqXTen3rV8
— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) October 22, 2024
The pollsters also found only 31% of those surveyed believe British democracy is working, and three quarters (74%) of Brits think the UK government is rigged to serve the rich and powerful instead of the general public.
Luke Tryl, More in Common’s UK director, suggested a belief that politicians are not facing up to the challenges our country faces is prevalent across different voter groups and demographics.
He said: “I’ve said before doing focus groups during the election often felt like being hit with a battering ram of disillusionment that often bordered on and occasionally spilled over into anger.”
He claimed that for many Brits, “too much of every day life feels like a series of minor struggles and frictions”, such as trying to get a GP appointment or fighting to speak to a real person.
It’s telling that More In Common also found that across most parties, voters believe the UK is pretty divided.
Only 21% of Labour voters thought it was united, compared to 15% of Liberal Democrat voters, 10% of Tory voters, 8% of Reform and 7% of the Green Party.
He added: “This government has its work cut out because what happens next really matters. I used to be an optimist about the state of democracy, I’m not anymore. But I’m also not a fatalist – if our politicians and policy makers can show that democracy can and does work.
“The status quo of general miserableness and disrespect doesn’t seem sustainable.”
He suggested that the past decade “has felt like lurching from one crisis or drama to another”.
Tryl’s comments come after a turbulent few months for the new Labour government, where the prime minister has seen his approval ratings plummet to new depths.
