Audience at Tory leader debate asked to raise hands if they trust politicians - none did

No audience member raised their hand during a Tory leader debate on Friday when asked if they trusted politicians, in a clip that summed up the state of UK politics right now.

Channel 4 hosted the first of the Conservative leadership debates, featuring the remaining candidates Kemi Badenoch, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Tom Tugendhat.

The show, hosted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, saw the candidates answer questions from a studio audience of floating voters.

And it seems as if the faith in those who want to represent the country has gone out the window.

In a video clip uploaded to Channel 4's Twitter, Guru-Murthy asked the audience the following: "From what you heard so far, do you, trust politicians, right? Put your hand up if you trust politicians."

No-one did.

Seemingly shocked, Guru-Murthy said: "Goodness, right..."

People on Twitter said it was a "harrowing" moment for candidates to consider.

One wrote: "To see a studio audience asked if they trust politicians and see none of them - not one - put their heads up is actually quite harrowing."

"Quite a moment ..... THIS should be the main message all of the candidates take from this debate," another added.

A third wrote: "Tells you everything you need to know about where we're at …, and it's 100% on @BorisJohnson shoulders & his merry band of incompetent chums."

See other reactions below.

Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's recent resignation, the Tory leadership race has been challenging.

Mordaunt, the Minister of State for Trade, narrowed the game with former chancellor Sunak and increased her lead over Truss in the second round of voting by Tory MPs in the competition to be the party leader and prime minister.

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