Londoners distrust in government suggests devolution could be the future
With just one day left before we head to polling booths, new data from Savanta reveals Westminster has got a long way to go to win over Londoners’ trust. This begs the question, could the devolution deal be a better option?
Commissioned by Centre for London, the research from Savanta, an organisation that specialises in B2B market research, shows just one in six people from the capital city trust the national government. What’s more, 31% were found to trust their local authorities and one in five said they trust city government, (i.e Mayor of London and London Assembly) the most.
With this in mind, almost half of Londoners (49%) admitted to Savanta that they support the decision for their taxes to be decided by councils rather than the powers of Downing Street. A mere 16% have opposed this view.
Antonia Jennings, chief executive at Centre for London, said: ‘With trust in national government waning, and support for greater devolution increasing, it’s time to re-think London’s devolution deal.’
‘It’s in the whole country’s interest for London to be firing on all cylinders, and in every Londoner’s interest for the city to become less manifestly unequal,’ Jennings added. ‘We know London needs to address its productivity and inequality crises, and fast. A new deal for London has the potential to be the key ingredient for making this happen.’
News of the research has come just one day before polling stations open in the UK for the next General Election. As it stands, polls indicate that the Labour Party will secure the most votes, which could be a pivotal step in securing a devolution deal. Should Sir Keir Starmer be successful, it will be the first time in eight years that national government comes from the same party as the London Mayor. As both authorities will be batting for the same team, MPs could have an unprecedented opportunity to work together under aligned goals.
Whilst unveiling his political manifesto last month, Starmer promised a ‘full fact devolution’ if his party are successful tomorrow. The Labour leader pledged a Take Back Control Act which would involve ‘harnessing’ and ‘unlocking’ the ‘pride people have in their communities’ and granting more power to directly elected mayors.
In addition, the amount (or lack of) taxes currently raised by the government and local authorities is another reason to suggest why devolution wouldn’t be such a bad idea. As it stands, they raise a mere 5% of taxes, which is significantly lower than comparable countries like the UK (32%) and France (14%). Local and regional government is funded through regressive council tax, devolving a proportion of business tax raised, and often competitive central government grants. All these measures are outdated and insufficient for London’s stretched government. Council tax bands remain set at the level of a property’s worth from 1991 in London. Meanwhile competitive funding pots are estimated to have cost local government tens of millions of pounds developing bids – the vast majority of which are unsuccessful.
‘In some senses our results are not surprising – it’s long been true that when asked, people say they are more trusting of politics that is ‘closer’ to them, rather than national governments,’ Emma Levin, associate director at Savanta, said.
‘But our findings also suggest a partisan element to this, with Conservative voters more likely to trust the Westminster government they currently control, and Labour voters more likely to trust local and city governments – most of which are Labour-led.’
Background on the research
To conduct the research, Savanta interviewed 1,579 londoners aged 18+ online between 21st-26th June 2024. Data were weighted to be representative of all London adults by age, sex, region and SEG. Voting intention is also weighted by 2019 General Election and 2016 EU Referendum vote, as well as likelihood to vote. Savanta is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
Image: Steve Houghton-Burnett
More on the General Election:
Local elections 2024: Conservatives in ‘a very tough situation’
