Doctors Top Public Opinion Poll On Trustworthy Professions

Doctors come out on top in the annual MORI poll that asks members of the public whom they trust to tell the truth, according to results released today (10/3/05) by the British Medical Association (BMA). Nine in ten say that they trust doctors to tell the truth.

MORI asked over 2000 adults in Great Britain to say who from a list of 16 types of people they generally trusted to tell the truth. Ninety-one per cent of the public agreed that doctors were the most trusted profession. They were closely followed by teachers (88%). Professors (77%), judges (76%) and clergymen/priests (73%) also featured in the top five. Politicians and Government Ministers were among the lowest rated -- only one in five adults trusts them to tell the truth, and a huge majority do not. Journalists picked up the wooden spoon with just 16% trusting them to tell the truth.

Doctors have consistently topped the list of most trusted professions in the last 22 years of MORI's annual poll.

Technical details

The poll was conducted for the BMA by MORI Social Research Unit. A representative quota sample of 2,017 adults in Great Britain, aged 15 or over, was interviewed face-to-face in their homes, between 17-21 February 2005 in 193 sampling points, using CAPI methodology. Data have been weighted to the known profile of the GB populations respectively. This data, plus GB trends going back to 1983, are attached.

Topline Results

Q1 Now I will read you a list of different types of people. For each would you tell me if you generally trust them to tell the truth, or not?Base: c.2,000 British adults aged 15+ each year.