POLITICIANS from all parties have been urged to "up their game" as it emerged women trust them less than men. 

Research by the John Smith Centre for Public Service at Glasgow University revealed 12% of women trust politicians in general, while just over a quarter (26%) felt this about their local MP.

The research, released ahead of International Women's Day tomorrow, found less than a quarter (24%) of women think politicians try to keep their pledges, with the same number believing democracy is working well in the UK. 

Meanwhile 31% of men said democracy was working well, with a slightly higher proportion (32%) saying they believed politicians try to keep their promises to voters.

Almost a third (31%) of men said they trusted their local MP, with 16% of males trusting politicians in general.

The John Smith Centre, which was set up in 2014 to promote a positive vision for representative politics, carried out the survey in 2019, with 1424 people in Scotland, England and Wales taking part.

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SNP MP Alison Thewliss said the figures made for "sad reading".

She said that "in an area of life that remains dominated by men, women don't always see themselves or what they care about as being political".

Thewliss continued: "Trust in politics is a difficult thing to restore, but we must all try. Politicians can be seen as distant, uncaring, and set apart from those they are supposed to represent. Policies are announced in great triumph in the heat of an election, and later quietly watered down or abandoned - in many cases because they were poorly conceived and not built with proper consultation and care.

"There are no easy answers to this, but we need to listen more and respond with honesty even when that is difficult."

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Meanwhile Labour MP Stella Creasy (above) said politicians needed to "see and respect women in their own right and have the courage and confidence to ask why they don't trust the political process".

She stated: "In a world where trust and confidence in public life is not particularly strong for any group, women are more likely to feel politicians are lying to them, that democracy doesn't works for them or that even if something is promised it will happen.

"That matters not least because women are more likely to use public services - and are less likely to be politicians themselves."

Creasy added: "The solutions to addressing these concerns are likely to be many - and some are not rocket science.

"This is a world where women make up just a third of MPs, 27% of members of the House of Lords, 35% of MSPs and the average councillor in England is 59, white and probably called David or John.

"It should not be controversial to recognise that the lack of women in leadership positions throughout public services and public life inevitably influences whether those fields are fully able to respond to the needs and interests of women, either in practice or in perception."