Local councils are viewed as negatively as private landlords for putting people's interests first
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The share of Britons who believe most public services are ready to listen to complaints has halved over the past 23 years, falling from 49% in 2002 to just 26% today, according to new research that reveals widespread feelings of powerlessness across the country - and among Reform UK supporters in particular.
The study, by the Policy Institute at King's College London, Ipsos UK and the LSE, finds that while large majorities of people in Britain have long felt powerless to influence decisions both nationally and locally, Reform UK has become a magnet for the disaffected - its supporters are consistently most likely to see themselves as powerless, alongside those who say they would not vote for any party and, to a lesser extent, Conservative supporters.
Two-thirds (65%) of Reform UK supporters disagree their complaints will be listened to by most public services - the only party where a large majority feel this way.
This pattern extends to broader political influence: 72% of Reform UK supporters say people like them are powerless to change things in the country - a higher proportion than even non-voters (66%) and well above Conservative (59%) and Labour (42%) supporters.
More generally, among the population overall, one in four (25%) people now agree that when they get involved in politics, they really can change how the UK is run - down from one in three (32%) back in 2018.
Based on a nationally representative survey of 2,185 people aged 16+, the study explores feelings of powerlessness among the public as a whole and key groups in Britain. It updates long-term trends, some going back to the 1980s, as well as adding new questions on the perceived responsiveness of public and private services.
Local councils are viewed as negatively as private landlords for putting people's interests first
When the public are asked which services, from a list of 19, are least likely to prioritise their interests, local councils are the most frequently chosen answer, selected by 28% of people. This places them on par with private landlords (27%) for negative public perception.
Government benefits offices (26%), utility providers (24%) and the police (22%) are seen as next least likely to put people's interests first, while few say the same of hotels (6%), restaurants (7%), supermarkets (7%) and schools (8%).
Overall, private sector companies fare only slightly better than public services for perceptions of responsiveness, with 29% saying most private sector companies are ready to listen to complaints, compared with 26% who say the same of public services - although this view of public services is down from 49% back in 2002.
The public have never felt particularly powerful - but there are some worrying new signs
The study shows that, while there was never a "golden age" when the public felt particularly powerful (at least over the last 35 years), some measures have worsened, and there is now an extremely low sense of control among particular groups, not least among Reform UK supporters and those who do not vote:
Political involvement
As previously noted, one in four (25%) people now agree that when they get involved in politics, they really can change how the UK is run - down from one in three (32%) back in 2018.
Labour supporters are split on whether they can change how the UK is run through involvement in politics, with 33% agreeing and 36% disagreeing. By contrast, supporters of other parties and non-voters are far more doubtful.
Influence over national decision-making
Only 12% of Britons now feel they have at least some influence over decision-making in the country as a whole - broadly in line with the pre-pandemic average.
But among people who support a political party, those who back Reform UK have emerged as most likely to say they have no influence at all over national decision-making (56%) - notably higher than the share of Conservative (46%), Lib Dem (29%) and Labour (23%) supporters who feel this way.
Only non-voters are more inclined to feel they have no influence at all (60%).
Influence over local decision-making
Compared with the picture nationally, the public are more likely to say they have at least some influence over decision-making in their local area, with 23% holding this view.
And while there has been little change in opinion overall since trends began in 2008, Reform UK supporters (43%) and non-voters (51%) stand out as most convinced that they have no influence at all on local decision-making.
Power to change things in Britain
A majority of the public (54%) say people like them are powerless to change things in Britain.
This is slightly lower than in 1989 (61%) - the last time this question was asked - though fewer people today now disagree with this view (23% in 2025 vs 32% in 1989).
A clear majority, 72% of Reform UK supporters say people like them are powerless to change things in the country - the highest figure among both political supporters and non-voters.
Influence over the things that happen to people
Nearly half (45%) the public today feel they have little influence over the things that happen to them.
This is higher than in 1989 (36%) but similar to opinion in 1983 (44%), when this question was previously asked.
Unlike back then, however, there are now far fewer who actively disagree that they have little influence over what happens to them (29% in 2025 vs 44% in 1989 and 46% in 1983).
Again, Reform UK supporters (57%) are most likely to feel they have little influence over the things that happen to them, followed by Conservative supporters (47%) and those who say they would not vote (47%). Labour (42%) and Lib Dem (40%) supporters are least likely to feel this way.
Overall, Reform UK supporters and non-voters feel most powerless
To measure overall feelings of powerlessness, the researchers created an index based on three key indicators.1 When looking at the proportion of people who fall into the two least powerful categories on the index, Reform UK supporters stand out: nearly three-quarters (73%) are in this highly powerless group. This compares to just over half (56%) of the public as a whole and less than half (46%) of Labour supporters, who therefore feel comparatively more powerful.
But a sense of powerlessness is most acute among those who say they wouldn't vote for any party. When isolating the single least powerful category on the index, this group is the most prominent: over a quarter (28%) of non-voters fall into this category of extreme powerlessness - slightly higher than the 23% of Reform UK supporters in this group. By contrast, only 13% of the public as a whole are in this category and just 6% of Labour supporters feel this intensely powerless.
Looking at other characteristics, the data reveals that White people (57%) are more likely to feel powerless than ethnic minorities (49%), and that this sense of powerlessness is also higher among those on lower incomes and with lower levels of formal education.
Few believe their power has increased over the past two decades
When asked to look back over the past 20 years, the public are far more likely to say the power of people like them to change things in Britain has stayed the same (37%) or declined (43%) than to say it has improved (14%).
Around one in five (19%) feel people like them have more influence over the things that happen to them than they did than 20 years ago.
Reform UK supporters are the only political group with majorities who feel the power of people like them to change things in the country (65%) and influence over the things that happen to them (59%) is worse than it was 20 years ago.
By contrast, young women stand out as most likely to feel people like them have greater influence than 20 years ago: 28% of women aged 16 to 34 say they have more power to change things in the country now - more than double the proportion of their male counterparts (13%).
Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King's College London, said:
"It's important to recognise that there was never a 'golden age' of the public feeling particularly powerful in their influence over national and local decisions. That should not be a particular surprise, given that national and even local decision-making is always a complex balance where one person's influence is going to be limited.
"But there are three worrying signs from the study. First, there have been important declines in our sense of control even from this low base, including over whether getting involved in politics can change things. Second, some groups have incredibly high feelings of powerlessness, particularly those who support Reform UK and who do not vote. This goes some way to explain their call for a strong leader and radical policies that will shake things up, partly because they feel they have so little power to lose.
"And third, we've seen a collapse in belief that public services are ready to listen to complaints, halving since 2002. We know that how services respond when things go wrong is a key element of 'delivery', which is major focus for the current government - but this study shows how difficult a task they face in convincing the public that services can actually deliver."
Trinh Tu, Managing Director of Public Affairs, Ipsos, said:
"This study captures more than just a snapshot of dissatisfaction; it reveals a dangerous erosion of the connective tissue between the British people and the institutions designed to serve them. The fact that belief in the responsiveness of public services has halved in two decades is a flashing red light for the health of our social contract.
"This isn't just about frustration with service delivery; it's feeding a deeper, more corrosive sense of political powerlessness. We see a direct line from feeling your complaint will be ignored to feeling your vote doesn't matter. The challenge this presents is immense: how can any meaningful reform of public services succeed if the very people those services are for have already lost faith that anyone is listening?
"Without a concerted effort to rebuild this trust at every level - from the local council to the national stage - we risk a further spiral into public disengagement. This would not only make governing more difficult but could fundamentally weaken the democratic legitimacy that all our public institutions rely on."
Professor Tony Travers, Associate Dean of the LSE School of Public Policy, said:
"Powerlessness is corrosive. The major political parties at both central and local government level risk alienating voters and undermining trust in democracy. If people feel they can't get public services to work for them because Whitehall and council officials appear not to care, there will be consequences for political parties and for the willingness of people to pay taxes."
Survey details
The findings presented in this report are based on responses from a nationally representative sample of 2,185 GB adults aged 16+ drawn from the Ipsos UK Knowledge Panel, the UK's largest online random probability panel, surveyed between 3 and 9 April 2025. Data is weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.
Other years
Trends are taken from a range of different sources: Ipsos (then MORI) archives; the Hansard Society Audit of Political Engagement; and the People's Panel run by Ipsos for the Cabinet Office 1998-2002. Previous surveys were carried out face-to-face, using a mix of quota and random probability sampling methods. Because of the change in methodology since then (with 2025 data collected through a random probability online panel), trends should be interpreted with some caution.
- The three key statements included in the index are: "I feel that I have little influence over the things that happen to me", "People like me are powerless to change things in this country", and "When people like me get involved in politics, they can really change the way the country is run".
