With the general election looming, just one in six Londoners trust Westminster government.
The day before we head to the polling booths, new data commissioned by Centre for London from Savanta reveals that national government has a long way to go to win over Londoners’ trust. When asked which level of government they trust the most to act in their best interests and that of their community, just one in six (16%) trusted national government the most. Twice as many Londoners trusted local government the most (31%), while one in five (21%) trust city government (i.e. Mayor of London and the London Assembly) the most.
Willing to put their money where their mouth is, half of Londoners (49%) told Savanta they support a greater percentage of their taxes being decided by local government (e.g. Greater London Assembly, Borough Councils) rather than national government. Only 16% would oppose this.
As Labour look likely to win general election, it’s time for a new London devolution deal
With polling also indicating that Labour will secure the most general election votes in the capital (49%, compared to 19% for the Conservatives), our city could have a national government from the same party as the London Mayor for the first time in eight years. This would be good news for many: our survey revealed twice as many Londoners say it is better for London when the Mayor and the national government are from the same party (40%), compared to those who say it’s better when they’re from different parties (20%).
Having the same party govern locally and at Westminster could create a window of opportunity to allow London’s political leaders to advocate for greater devolved powers for our capital. For the first time since Boris Johnson was the Mayor of London, London’s city government and its MPs could have an unprecedented opportunity to work together under aligned goals.
Currently, the UK’s local and regional governments raise a mere 5% of taxes – significantly lower than comparable countries like the US (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 All these measures are outdated and insufficient for London’s stretched government.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.
By making the most of this unprecedented opportunity to work together under aligned goals, London’s city government and its MPs can create a new fiscal model for our capital, and grant our city the power it needs to evolve.
Antonia Jennings, Chief Executive at Centre for London, says:
“With trust in national government waning, and support for greater devolution increasing, it’s time to re-think London’s devolution deal.
“It is 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. 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.”
Emma Levin, Associate Director at Savanta says:
“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.”
“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.”