43% of British adults, including 46% of adults living in the North, say that replacing the House of Lords with a citizens' assembly would increase their trust in politics
Polling published today on trust and House of Lords reform show that 2024 Reform voters trust citizen assembly members more, and members of parliament less, than all other voter groups.
2024 Reform voters, polled as part of a wider British poll into trust and citizens’ assemblies, trust citizens’ assembly members to make policy decisions in their best interest eight times more than they do Members of Parliament (69% and 8%, respectively)
Reform won more than 30% of the vote in last Thursday’s local council elections.
The polling, published today, shows that across all groups, members of citizens’ assemblies are at least four times more trusted than MPs (57% and 13%, respectively) to make policy recommendations in their best interest. Outside of Reform voters, women are more likely than men to report this (61% and 54%, respectively) and Britons in the North are more likely than their counterparts (61%) to report this.
The polling was carried out for the Sortition Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation delivering citizens assemblies globally. Sortition Foundation Director James Robertson said:
‘People don’t trust politicians. People don’t trust the House of Lords. But we do trust each other to make fair decisions. That's why replacing the House of Lords with a permanent rolling citizens’ assembly appeals to Reform, Labour, LibDem and Conservative voters alike.’
When asked who they would trust more: MPs or members of a citizens’ assembly to make policy recommendations that are in their best interest, 57% of British adults said members of a citizens’ assembly.
More than two-thirds (69%) of those who voted Reform in 2024 would trust citizens’ assembly members more to make policy recommendations in their best interest, according to the polling - with only 8% saying they would trust politicians more with these decisions.
The polling was carried out as part of the 858 campaign to widen civic participation beyond jury service to other forms of decision-making, including replacing the House of Lords with a rolling citizens’ assembly or House of Citizens. Permanent, rolling citizens’ assemblies already exist in Paris, East Belgium and Ireland, and a UK House of Citizens would build on these examples.
Replacing the House of Lords with a rolling citizens’ assembly was the most popular reform option with those polled, with more than a fifth (22%) preferring it to the other reform options including an elected chamber (17%) and removing hereditary peers (14%).
Other results from the polling, which has been carried out annually for the past three years included:
- Replacing the House of Lords with a citizens’ assembly would increase trust in politics for 43% of British adults
- 78% of adults polled, and 90% of Reform voters, said they didn't trust MPs to tell the truth
- More than four times as many (57%) British adults trust members of a citizens’ assembly to make policy decisions in their best interests than trust MPs to do so (13%)
Robertson said:
‘If Labour or Conservatives want to win back Reform and other voters, they should commit to replacing the House of Lords with a rolling citizens’ assembly. People need to see people like them having more say over the decisions which affect them - at both local and national level.’
David Njoku, a former citizens assembly participant from Bracknell, explained why he thought citizens’ assemblies are popular with the public:
‘What I saw was people bringing their life experience, speaking just as much as the experts, and everyone respectfully listening to each other. I saw that everyone cares, but that they care from a different angle. We all learned from each other and saw that we can all make a difference. Instead of it being about beating your opponent and gaining power, citizens’ assemblies are all about working together to create solutions.’
ENDS
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
- A citizen’s assembly is a group of people, selected to be representative of the UK population, who are brought together to hear evidence, discuss an issue and reach an informed conclusion.
- The 858 project campaigns to build on Britain’s 800+year tradition of jury service to widen civic participation, including replacing the House of Lords with a House of Citizens: www.858.org.uk
- Policy document with further information on how a House of Citizens would work: https://www.858.org.uk/house-of-citizens
- Detailed 2025 YouGov results
- All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,009 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 23rd-24th April 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
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