After the General Election result raised questions about people’s confidence in political polling, a new survey today finds trust in pollsters is as low as with bankers.

The poll from PLMR and ComRes reveals of 17% of people trust pollsters, whilst 18% trust bankers.

The poll was carried out in the wake of the General Election, where the role of political pollsters came under close scrutiny. Despite there being widespread agreement among polling companies in the weeks leading up to May 7th that Labour and the Conservatives were neck-and-neck throughout the campaign, with neither expected to achieve a majority, the Tories secured 330 seats in the House of Commons – enough to form a government.

However, pollsters were not found to be the least trusted professionals in the country. That dubious honour was awarded to politicians, with only 10% of people saying they trusted them.

Journalists and estate agents were only slightly more trusted than politicians, according to the survey – with trust ratings of 11% and 15% respectively.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, doctors are seen as the most trusted professionals by Britons – 84% of respondents say they trust them, while only 10% saying they do not.

Kevin Craig, Managing Director of PLMR, said:

“After the General Election result, it’s fair to say the stock of pollsters has fallen and that they haven’t enjoyed a huge amount of public support.

“Their job is of course complex, but the general perception is that their primary function is to accurately predict the outcome of elections – something they spectacularly failed to do.

“Since the election result was announced, pollsters have been looking in great depth at the way they do things. This survey underlines the scale of the work they have to do to rebuild confidence in them.”

This poll was featured in The Independent, The Scotsman, The Irish Independent, The Belfast Telegraph, The Daily Record,  Guido Fawkes, The Evening Express, BT and The Jeresy Evening Post