NHS Staff top Santa’s ‘nice list’ for fourth year in a row

• NHS staff, David Attenborough, Martin Lewis, teachers and the Lionesses make top five of nice list.
• Putin, Trump and leading Conservative politicians dominate ‘naughty list’, with Just Stop Oil and Nigel Farage also featuring.

As 2023 comes to a close, we take a look at who the public think has been nice and who has been naughty this year.

The Naughty List

Vladimir Putin is most likely to be put on the naughty list by Britons in 2022 (59%). Around half say former President of the United States Donald Trump deserves to be on the naughty list (51%) while just under half (46%) believe former PM, Boris Johnson shouldn’t be getting presents this year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considered to have been naughty this year by 40% of Britons, followed by Liz Truss on 36%.

Other notable naughty people, according to the public, include Suella Braverman (34%), Just Stop Oil (33%) and Nigel Farage (32%).

The Nice List

NHS staff maintain their position at the top of the nice list for the fourth year in a row (49%). David Attenborough has been put on the nice list by 39% of Britons, followed by Martin Lewis at 36%. Teachers are put on the nice list by 33%, followed by the England Women’s Football team at 30%. Dame Judi Dench (28%) and Royal couple Catherine, Princess of Wales (28%) and William, Prince of Wales (26%) make up the top eight.

Commenting on the findings, Ipsos Research Director Keiran Pedley, said:

Whilst just a bit of fun for the Christmas period, these findings do tell us a little bit about the state of public opinion as 2023 draws to a close. Public sector workers are popular, with NHS workers topping the nice list for a fourth year in a row and teachers placing fourth. David Attenborough, Dame Judi Dench and Martin Lewis continue to be something of national treasures, whilst the Lionesses remain popular too. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump continue to top the naughty list, with various Conservative politicians dominating the wrong end of the table. Perhaps reflecting the Conservative government’s struggles this year.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,170 adults aged 16-75 in Great Britain. Interviews took place on the online Omnibus 1st-4th December. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.