These are the professions we trust the most (and least) in a “post-truth” world
Doctors are no longer the most trusted profession in Britain, but politicians shouldn't get their hopes up just yet – they still don't have the confidence of the nation in an era now labelled "post-truth".
Nurses have been named as the experts people believe will tell the truth more than any other, knocking doctors into second place upon their first inclusion in the ranking.
Read more: Have we really entered the era of post-truth politics?
Teachers, judges and scientists rounded out the top five, according to Ipsos Mori's annual Veracity Index for Mumsnet.
In fact, politicians were found to be the least trusted of all professions – even estate agents – again, with trust falling six percentage points in the past year, further than any other profession. But, journalists have also taken a hit (unless they are a TV news anchor), with less credibility than traditionally mistrusted estate agents compared to last year.
Read more: Michael Gove just totally dissed economists and "expert" pollsters
Trust in business leaders has fallen two percentage points, while trust in bankers has remained static on 33 per cent. Economists, added to the ranking for the first time this year came out surprisingly well at a time when there's been a backlash against experts, coming mid-table with 48 per cent trust. The research noted that trust in economists was higher than those who voted for remaining in the EU.
“There’s been much discussion about the dawn of a 'post-truth' era in politics, but our long-term trends show that politicians have never exactly been the most trusted of professions," said head of political research at Ipsos Mori, Gideon Skinner.
"Even so, lack of trust clearly played an important part in the EU referendum, with big differences between who remain and leave voters trusted, and the leave campaign mostly winning the argument. Understanding this dynamic is more complicated than simply that people are tired of experts, as this report shows – but which side of the fence you sat had an impact too.”
The report said it was "significant that politicians and journalists overall are so widely regarded as untrustworthy".
"… when it comes to big political decisions, voters are not convinced their elected representatives or the news media will tell them the truth – and are deeply divided among themselves about what the truth is," it said.
When it comes to the EU referendum, researchers found the majority of people (72 per cent), both Leave and Remain supporters, trusted friends and family.