Three quarters of Britons say it’s unacceptable for the Prime Minister to accept gifts from businesses or organisations

• Three quarters (75%) of Britons say that it is rarely or never acceptable for the Prime Minister to accept gifts from businesses or organisations.
• More than two-thirds say the same about accepting gifts from private individuals (68%).

New research from Ipsos, carried out 20-23 September, has assessed whether the public believes that the Prime Minister and Members of Parliament (MPs) earn too much money, and how the public perceives the acceptability of gifts offered to the Prime Minister.  

Salaries of the Prime Minister and MPs

• Almost half (47%) of Britons believe that the Prime Minister earns too much money. 
• Those who voted for Reform UK at the last General Election are most likely to believe the Prime Minister earns too much money, with 68% saying that he earns too much. 
• Over 3 in 5 (63%) say that MPs earn too much money. 
• Once again, Reform UK voters are most likely to say that MPs salaries are too high (69%). 

Gifts

Elsewhere in the poll, respondents were asked for their views on whether it is acceptable for the Prime Minister to accept gifts from a range of sources. Three quarters (75%) of Britons say that it is rarely or never acceptable for the Prime Minister to accept a gift from businesses or organisations. 68% say it rarely or never acceptable for the Prime Minister to accept gifts from private individuals, and 57% say the same regarding gifts from the governments of other countries (though 36% say this is usually or always acceptable). If we take out the proportion that say ‘rarely acceptable’ we find that 48% say it is ‘never acceptable’ to accept gifts from businesses / organisations, 43% say it is never acceptable to accept gifts  from private individuals and 32% say it is never acceptable to accept gifts from governments of other countries.

Respondents were also asked what factors they consider important in deciding whether the Prime Minister should accept a gift.  

• 82% say whether the gift is publicly declared is important. 
• 77% say it is important who the gift is from. 
• 76% say it is important whether relevant taxes have been paid on the gift. 
• 73% say it is important what the gift is. 
• 72% say the value of the gift is important. 

However, the public is more divided on whether it is important that the individual/organisation giving the gift is British. 40% say it is important, while half (50%) say it is not very important or not important at all. 

Keiran Pedley, UK Director of Politics at Ipsos said: 

These findings reflect an inherent public scepticism when it comes to the Prime Minister receiving gifts from a wide range of sources. Whilst context clearly matters, the public appear to instinctively think the Prime Minister should not be receiving gifts from anyone - or at least that it is rarely or never acceptable to do so.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,029 adults aged 18-75 across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone between the 20th – 23rd September 2024.  Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.