June gives me a wry smile when I ask her if she trusts politicians. But it soon fades.
“They promise you the Earth, and you don’t see anything. And it’s soul destroying,” she says.
I meet her and husband Joe as they tuck into fish and chips in the town’s oldest chippy, the Peabung, which has served this town since 1883.
Image: June no longer trusts politicians
June tells me she really wants to trust politicians but they “just mess it up every time”. I ask Joe if he thinks politicians care about him? “Well hopefully they do. I’m not sure really.”
He stops to think for a moment. “I don’t really trust politicians,” he says.
Image: Joe is ‘not sure’ politicians care about people like him
The findings of a Sky News/YouGov poll are stark and echo how voters like June and Joe feel. The findings suggest voters no longer believe what politicians say.
In some places, there appears to be a deep loss of faith in British politics.
More on Conservatives
Related Topics:
Shannon Donnelly has nearly 200,000 followers on TikTok and has used the platform to develop her Grimsby-based business selling personal safety equipment, such as panic alarms. I ask her if she trusts politicians.
“No – I think things like Brexit has massively changed people’s opinion. I won’t forget when they said all that money would go to the NHS.
Advertisement
“Now we seem to be in a worse position, but they still expect us to trust them. It’s crazy.”
Image: Shannon Donnelly
The percentage of Leavers saying they “almost never” trust the government has leapt by 33 points (from 23% to 56%) since the last election. This is twice as much as the increase for Remainers.
Shannon’s lack of trust impacts on her livelihood and she says she doesn’t know which way to turn.
“For the business, obviously, it’s important to look at what they will do. We’re struggling. VAT is insane, overheads are crazy.”
Asked if people think politicians care about them, 83% of people asked said no, with just 11% saying they cared a little.
When asked how much do politicians care about your part of the country – there is a clear divide – 86% of people living in the north of England say they don’t care, whereas just 47% of Londoners say their elected representatives don’t care about their city.
Image: Brian Wustrack
Brian Wustrack owns the oldest fish and chip shop in Grimsby.
“They’re just not listening to the people that voted, it’s all a one-way system for them. They’ve lost touch with the people out there, especially the people in the North.”
The prime minister is still to announce the date of the next general election.
However, places like Grimsby and Cleethorpes are key election battlegrounds now. Support for the Conservatives may be fading but that won’t necessarily translate into strong support for Labour.
The Reform party is gaining ground in pro-Leave constituencies like this one, picking up their 2019 Tory voters.
But brace yourself for a raft of promises in the next few months.
The questions is will voters trust politicians to deliver on them.
The Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge is going to be live in Grimsby tonight with a special programme in our Target Towns series. She’ll be talking about trust in politics with a live audience – that’s live tonight on Sky News at 7pm
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
ALL THE CANDIDATES IN NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE’S LOCAL ELECTIONS
Croft Baker Gemma Harney – Liberal Democrats Marian Jervis – Labour Party Graham Reynolds – Conservative Party
East Marsh Lloyd Emmerson – Liberal Democrats Barry Miller – Labour and Co-operative Party Callum Procter – Conservative Party
Freshney Tamzin Barton – Liberal Democrats Tanya Brasted – Conservative Party Paul Bright – Independent (part of Independents for North East Lincolnshire party group) Paul Wood – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) Samantha Wrexal Holborrow – Labour Party
Haverstoe Stephen Hocknell – Liberal Democrats Val O’Flynn – TUSC Bill Parkinson – Conservative Party Ian Townsend – Labour Party
Heneage Brian Barrett – Liberal Democrats Emma Clough – Labour Party Tyrone Curran – Conservative Party John Stiff – TUSC
Humberston & New Waltham Ryan Aisthorpe – Liberal Democrats Joe Carter – TUSC Hayden Dawkins – Conservative Party Pauline Kaczmarek – Labour Party
Immingham David Barton – Liberal Democrats Trevor Crofts – Conservative Party Nathan Newton – TUSC David Watson – Labour Party
Park Robson Augusta – Labour Party Zach Kellerman – Liberal Democrats Dave Mitchell – TUSC Daniel Westcott – Conservative Party
Scartho Charlotte Croft – Conservative Party Caroline Ellis – Liberal Democrats Dan Humphrey – Labour Party Val Pow – TUSC
Sidney Sussex Andy Burton – Liberal Democrats Alexandra Curran – Conservative Party Mark Gee – TUSC Edward Kaczmarek – Labour Party
South Paul Batson – Conservative Party Jane Bramley – Independent Andrew Harrison – Liberal Democrats Sheldon Mill – Labour Party Bill Ward – TUSC
Yarborough Les Bonner – Independent (part of the Independents for North East Lincolnshire party group) Sam Brown – Labour and Co-operative Party Phil Tuplin – TUSC Christine Vickers – Conservative Party Aharon Wharton – Liberal Democrats
Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.
Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.
Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?
The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.
Ex-Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry has defected to Reform, in the latest blow to the Conservatives.
The former MP for Rossendale and Darwen, who served as Northern Powerhouse minister under Boris Johnson and lost his seat last year, said he had defected to Nigel Farage’s party because the Tories had “lost their way”.
Reform UK confirmed the defection to Sky News, which was first broken by The Sun.
Speaking to the paper, Sir Jake said Mr Farage’s party was the “last chance to pull Britain back from terminal decline”.
“Our streets are completely lawless,” he said.
“Migration is out of control. Taxes are going through the roof.
More on Reform Uk
Related Topics:
“And day after day, I hear from people in my community and beyond who say the same thing: ‘This isn’t the Britain I grew up in’.”
Sir Jake accused his former party of “abandoning the British people” but said he was not “giving up”.
“I’m staying. And I’m fighting.
“Fighting for the Britain I want my kids, and one day, my grandkids, to grow up in.”
Mr Farage welcomed what he said was “a very brave decision” by Sir Jake.
“His admission that the Conservative government he was part of broke the country is unprecedented and principled,” he added.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Reform support increasing the benefits bill by removing the two-child cap, and nationalising British industry. By contrast the Conservatives, under new leadership, will keep making the case for sound money, lower taxes and bringing the welfare bill under control.
“We wish Jake well in his new high spend, high tax party.”
Sir Jake’s defection to Reform comes just days after former Conservative cabinet minister David Jones joined Reform UK, which continues to lead in the polls.
Image: Former Welsh secretary David Jones (R) alongside Tory MP Mark Francois. Pic: PA
Mr Jones, who was MP for Clwyd West from 2005 until standing down in 2024, said he had quit the Tories after “more than 50 years of continuous membership”.
Sir Jake was the MP Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire between 2010 and 2024, when he was defeated by Labour’s Andy MacNae.
He held several ministerial posts including in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Energy and Climate Change and the Cabinet Office.
Image: Nigel Farage after winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
Pic: Reuters
He was also chairman of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022, under Liz Truss.
Announcing his defection – which comes a year after the Tories suffered their worst ever election defeat – Sir Jake said “Britain was broken” and “the Conservative governments I was part of share the blame”.
“We now have a tax system that punishes hard work and ambition,” he said.
“Just this week, we saw record numbers of our brightest and best people leaving Britain because they can’t see a future here. At the same time, our benefits system is pulling in the world’s poor with no plan for integration and no control over who comes in.
“If you were deliberately trying to wreck the country, you’d be hard-pressed to do a better job than the last two decades of Labour and Tory rule.
“Millions of people, just like me, want a country they can be proud of again. The only way we get that is with Reform in government. That’s why I’ve resigned from the Conservative Party. I’m now backing Reform UK and working to make them the next party of government.”
He added: “And with Nigel Farage leading Reform, we’ve got someone the country can actually trust. He doesn’t change his views to fit the mood of the day. And people respect that. So do I. That’s why I believe he should be our next prime minister.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Not content with taking advice from Liz Truss, Nigel Farage has now tempted her Tory Party chairman into his ranks.
“It’s clear Farage wants Liz Truss’s reckless economics, which crashed our economy and sent mortgages spiralling, to be Reform’s blueprint for Britain. It’s a recipe for disaster and working people would be left paying the price.”