three in four of Belfast residents don’t trust politicians to lower the cost of living
Last week, a survey revealed that 84% of Brits feel powerless over decisions from local authorities, affecting their trust in politics, regardless of the party they support. But what do think actually think about political figures’ promises and news headlines on social media?
A new survey reveals the nation’s thoughts on the matter, and highlights which cities are the most and least trusting in the current climate.
Would Brits trust a politic figure’s promise to lower the cost of living?
| Rank | City | Likely | Unlikely |
| 1 | Liverpool | 11% | 78% |
| 2 | Belfast | 13% | 75% |
| 3 | Glasgow | 16% | 73% |
| 4 | Coventry | 5% | 71% |
| 5 | Leeds | 14% | 68% |
| 6 | Plymouth | 17% | 67% |
| 7 | York | 17% | 67% |
| 8 | Sheffield | 15% | 65% |
| 9 | Wrexham | 0% | 63% |
| 10 | Bristol | 21% | 61% |
| 11 | Edinburgh | 7% | 60% |
| 12 | Birmingham | 21% | 55% |
| 13 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 12% | 55% |
| 14 | Middlesbrough | 23% | 54% |
| 15 | Cardiff | 23% | 50% |
| 16 | Manchester | 25% | 50% |
| 17 | Leicester | 25% | 50% |
| 18 | Nottingham | 18% | 47% |
| 19 | London | 35% | 39% |
| 20 | Bradford | 20% | 36% |
Liverpool is the least trusting city when it comes to political figures with only 11% admitting they trust politics, regardless of their party.
Glasgow and Belfast residents were also quite sceptical, with over 7 in 10 saying they were unlikely to trust political figures’ promises to reduce cost of living in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In Edinburgh, only 7% of respondents claimed they would trust a politic figure’s promise to lower cost of living whilst 6 in 10 said they wouldn’t.
Blackpool and Bristol were the most indecisive cities, with 16% and 11% respectively expressing no opinion on the matter.
Are news headlines written to inform or manipulate Brits?
| Rank* | City | Always | Sometimes | Never |
| 1 | Sheffield | 35% | 59% | 3% |
| 2 | Bradford | 28% | 56% | 12% |
| 3 | Birmingham | 27% | 66% | 4% |
| 4 | Leicester | 25% | 61% | 11% |
| 5 | Cardiff | 23% | 63% | 3% |
| 6 | London | 20% | 63% | 11% |
| 7 | Glasgow | 20% | 63% | 8% |
| 8 | Manchester | 20% | 70% | 5% |
| 9 | Belfast | 19% | 44% | 31% |
| 10 | Northampton | 19% | 76% | 0% |
| 11 | Leeds | 18% | 64% | 14% |
| 12 | Liverpool | 18% | 73% | 4% |
| 13 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 15% | 82% | 3% |
| 14 | Edinburgh | 13% | 73% | 7% |
| 15 | Nottingham | 13% | 73% | 7% |
**Ranked by the higher number of respondents who responded “Always”
In Sheffield, only 3% of respondents claimed that social media headlines were never written to manipulate readers, whilst 35% believe that they are always manipulative. The trend is common in Yorkshire with Bradford and Leeds also ranking in the top 15 of the most sceptical cities when it comes to manipulative headlines on social media.
In Cardiff, nearly two thirds (63%) of Welsh residents believe news headlines are sometimes written to manipulate, whilst 20% of Londoners are convinced that news headlines on social media are never truthful.
Belfast is the city that puts the most trust in social media headlines, with 31% agreeing that online news are always written to inform, no matter whether it is positive or negative.