Every Prime Minister Has Been More Unpopular Than the Last”: The Sun’s Political Editor on Britain’s Trust Crisis
Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy challenges The Sun’s Jack Elsom on the media’s role in eroding political trust at LEAD 2026
Trust in British politics has hit rock bottom. Each successive prime minister becomes more unpopular than their predecessor. That’s the assessment from Jack Elsom, Political Editor at The Sun, speaking with Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy at LEAD 2026, The Advertising Association’s flagship conference, which this year focused on the theme of Trust in advertising.
“Keir Starmer is the most unpopular Prime Minister in British history, which is true, but the least popular Prime Minister before that was Rishi Sunak. Then it was Liz Truss, then Boris Johnson,” Elsom said. “Trust is at an all-time low.”
Elsom points to a “democratic disconnect” between what politicians promise and what they deliver. David Cameron pledged to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands, cut taxes, and improve public services. The opposite happened. Keir Starmer promised to stop the small boats and manage tax levels. Taxes went up instead.
“When you’re an electorate looking at this, and you’ve looked at these two main parties for the past 100 years, is it any wonder now that we are having the biggest upheaval of the political landscape since the early 1900s?” Elsom asked.
Guru-Murthy pushed back. “They haven’t all been getting worse at delivering. There’s obviously something bigger going on in terms of what voters expect from politics and what they think is achievable.”
Elsom blamed timid political leaders, bloodthirsty parliamentary parties, and social media. “There is just so much anger on social media these days, which is really affecting how politicians do things.”
Guru-Murthy turned the question around. Do Westminster journalists share responsibility for the trust deficit by fixating on personalities and “gotcha moments” rather than substantive policy?
Elsom conceded the point. “In Westminster, especially among Westminster journalists, there is a danger of getting so bogged down in personalities, in psychodrama, in regicide, that leaders themselves are so timid they don’t really seem to tackle big issues.”
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He contrasted today’s bite-sized interviews with the hours-long sit-downs Brian Walden conducted with Margaret Thatcher. “You really got a sense of where Margaret Thatcher or Harold Wilson was coming from as a politician and leader. Now we have very short, bite-sized interviews.”
Guru-Murthy rejected that. “It’s not really the media that has driven that shift. Political parties are very restricted. We are constantly saying, just give us more time, relax, take the heat out of the conversation. But trying to get a politician to sit down for 20 or 30 minutes is really, really hard.”
Starmer’s administration was supposed to restore integrity after the scandal-plagued Conservative government. Instead, it’s been “one of the most scandal-ridden governments of the past 100 years,” Elsom claimed, citing a weekly drumbeat of ministerial departures and controversies.
Guru-Murthy challenged that characterisation. “Everything you call a scandal, the scandal we are talking about this week is enormous and huge. The other things you call scandals, some of them aren’t. If they all get treated as a scandal, it is no wonder that trust is eroded.”
Elsom acknowledged that’s fair but argued Starmer set himself up by “beating up the Tories every which way” on sleaze when in opposition. “When he was in opposition, he was very quick to lay blame at successive Prime Ministers’ doors. That is why now he’s really on the ropes.”
The main driver of Labour’s unpopularity isn’t scandal, though. It’s policy. The winter fuel payment cut tops voter anger, compounded by timing missteps such as giving train drivers big pay rises at the same time. “These are the things which are really biting the public. The scandals are just the trimmings around the edges.”
Elsom predicted carnage for Labour in the Gorton and Denton by-election and the May local elections. The mood among Labour MPs has shifted from glum to angry. “MPs now are not just disappointed, but they are angry, and they are out for blood.”
The Peter Mandelson scandal could be the tipping point. “Man appoints man who’s friends with paedophile, leaks him information when in government, and then takes money from him. Everyone can understand that,” Elsom said. Recent polling shows 95% of the public followed the story.
On a recent trip to China and Japan, business delegates were “totally gushing about the prime minister,” suggesting that closer private-sector engagement might offer a way forward.
Elsom offered a personal note about Starmer. “Everyone says this, and I can vouch for it: he’s a thoroughly decent bloke in politics for the right reasons. He hates the culpability and political machinations of Westminster. Unfortunately, events have overtaken him. He’s been very badly advised.”
