Trust levels for charity chief executives has increased slightly over the year, but still half of people do not have faith in them to tell the truth.

The figures have emerged in Ipsos’ Veracity Index 2022, which asked Brits whether they trust a number of roles and professions “to tell the truth”.

It found that 50% of the public trust charity chiefs, with 18 other professions scoring higher.

The most trusted profession is nurses, mentioned by 89% of respondents.

Others more trusted that charity CEOs are doctors, scientists, teachers, lawyers and taxi drivers.

Car mechanics and priests are also more trusted.

The proportion of people who trust charity CEOs is marginally up on the previous year, when 49% of the public said they trusted those running third sector organisations.

As with the previous year politicians generally are the least trusted role, but this year’s figure shows that public faith in them has fallen further. While last year they were trusted by just under a fifth (19%) of the public, this year’s proportion has fallen to 12%.

Ipsos which has been compiling the index since 1983, said the “significant decrease in public trust in politicians” and is at the lowest point since the expenses scandals of 2009.

Other professions to see a drip in trust levels include doctors, nurses, teachers and museum curators.

Meanwhile trust levels for newsreaders, trade unionists and engineers has increased.

A new entry profession in the list is waiters and waitresses who are among the ten most trusted professions, with three quarters of the public believing they tell the truth.

“This year we have seen public trust drop gently across a wide range of professions,” said Ipsos Trends and Foresight researcher Mike Clemence.

“The biggest drop is in trust in politicians, which has fallen to levels last seen during the expenses crisis.

“However, we have also seen small but noticeable falls for high-trust professions including doctors, nurses, teachers and curators, as well as trust in the average person in the street.

“This makes the professions where we have seen an increase in trust this year – TV newsreaders, trade union officials and engineers – all the more noteworthy.

“There are also some new entrants in Britain’s list of trusted professions. Three quarters trust waiters and waitresses to tell the truth, making them among the ten most trusted professions in the country. We also see two thirds trust taxi drivers and a little over half trust car mechanics to tell the truth.”

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