The least trusted professions in the UK have been revealed and it’s bad news if you work in advertising

Advertising executives are the least trusted workers in the UK, a survey has revealed.

The Veracity Index compiled by Ipsos Mori is the longest-running poll on trust in professions in Britain, and measures public confidence in the workforce.

And it’s straight in at number one on the least trusted list for advertising executives, in their first appearance in the survey.

Of the 1,001 adults surveyed, only 16% said they trusted ad execs to tell the truth.

This made them less trusted than politicians on 19% and government ministers on 22%.

The bottom five was rounded off by journalists on 26% and estate agents on 30%.

At the other end of the spectrum, nurses remain the most trusted profession in Britain, with 96% saying they believe they will tell the truth.

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This was followed by doctors on 92%, teachers on 89%, engineers on 87% and professors on 86%.

More than three-quarters (78%) of the public said they trusted a member of the Armed Forces to tell the truth. The police force have gone up from 60% in 2009 to 76%.

There was good news for civil servants, who have seen the biggest rise in public trust sine the Veracity Index was introduced in 1983, going from 25% to 62%.

A big surprise was the increase in trust afforded to bankers, who have risen by 10% from 31% in 2013 to 41% today.

TV newsreaders suffered the biggest fall this year, dropping five percentage points from 67% last year to 62% this time around.

Gideon Skinner, research director at Ipsos Mori, said: “Our data shows that for many professions, public trust that they will tell the truth has actually been rising over time, both for those at the top of the scale (such as teachers and scientists) and for those nearer the bottom – such as bankers and journalists.

“Nevertheless, it is clear both that the public views different professions differently – with advertising executives a new addition at the bottom of the table, joining politicians and government ministers – and that different groups within society are more or less trusting.

“Younger generations, the middle classes and graduates are more trusting that people who are widowed, separated or divorced.”

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