Reform UK voters feel scientists are not ‘on their side’

Reform UK supporters are the least trusting of scientists among all British political parties, and polarisation could risk undermining strong public trust in science, a new survey has found.

In the UK, trust in scientists is generally high, with 63 per cent of respondents indicating that they have high trust, according to the study published on 9 September.

But the new research has revealed that Reform voters are “consistently the least positive about scientists”, with 32 per cent reporting feeling that scientists are on their side. Supporters of other UK political parties including the Greens, Labour and Conservatives, all feel that scientists are more on their side than Reform, at 71, 60 and 50 per cent, respectively.

Co-led by the Policy Institute at King’s College London and charity Sense about Science, the research is based on a survey of more than 4,000 adults.

The key finding of the research is that trust rests mainly on whether people feel scientists are “on the side of people like them”, rather than if they are perceived as experts.

Bobby Duffy, director of the King’s Policy Institute, said: “This study reveals trust in scientists isn’t just about whether people think scientists know their subject – it’s about whether people feel scientists are doing good for them.

“That sense of shared identity is a powerful driver of trust – and may present a significant risk, if growing political polarisation influences how people see science, as we’ve seen develop in the US over the last decade.”

The report claimed that Reform supporters’ “identity-driven scepticism” means that they are most likely to view scientists as conspiring with politicians and businesses, at 50 per cent, compared with 27 per cent of the public.

Reform voters were also more likely to “rely more on common sense than scientific studies”, the study found.

Another key finding of the Wellcome Trust-funded study is that trust tends to be lesser among the public for climate scientists, falling from 63 per cent to 54 per cent. The steepest trust gap in the study is between the Greens and Reform about climate scientists, with 84 per cent of Green supporters reporting high trust in them, compared with 19 per cent of Reform voters.

The study also found that trust levels correlate with those who support funding for science. One in three of the 5 per cent of the population categorised in the study as “low-trusters” say they want public science funding cut, compared with 2 per cent of “high-trusters”.

frances.jones@timeshighereducation.com