Lord Hutton's inquiry was cited by many people

The Committee for Standards in Public Life's research found a "widespread lack of trust in politicians".

Only estate agents and tabloid newspaper journalists are now less trusted than government ministers.

The report also says that many people feel "party politics is somehow at odds with the needs of the country".

Doctors trusted

Committee chairman Sir Alistair Graham said: "The public wants public office holders to be more honest or truthful about policies and services, acknowledging difficulties and competing pressures and also admitting or owning up when things go wrong or have unintended consequences."

The report is the first results of a long-term research project into public attitudes towards conduct in public life and is based on market research company BMRB's interviews with 1,097 adults between November 2003 and March 2004.

EVENTS INFLUENCING OPINIONS 60%: War on Iraq 42%: Hutton Inquiry 23%: Dossier on Iraq 21%: Reports on spin 18%: Jeffrey Archer case 13%: Neil Hamilton case 13%: Debate over MMR 11%: Jonathan Aitken case 8%: Local councillors' actions 7%: Fuel crisis The events cited by the 39% of those questioned who said their opinions had been influenced by external events

Family doctors were the most trusted profession to tell the truth, followed by head teachers, judges, local police officers, senior police officers and television news journalists.

Amongst politicians local MPs were most trusted, followed by local councillors and MPs in general - with government ministers trusted by just 24% of people to tell the truth.

The report finds: "There is a widespread perception of a culture in which politicians try to cover up the mistakes that they make, which sits uncomfortably alongside a strongly expressed desire among the public for them to come clean."

Suspicion

The research also found that trust in politicians was generally higher amongst those expected to be relatively well informed about politics, the report says.

The report suggests the public believe that MPs should vote according to the public interest in Parliament rather than according to party loyalties or self-interest.

Many people feel that party politics is somehow at odds with the public interest... while this mood of suspicion of party politics prevails, it is likely to colour people's views of politicians' behaviour Committee's report

The committee's report questions how far confidence in the honesty of national politicians can be increased because the "absence of trust in politicians is so widespread as to make a disparity between public expectations and perceptions seem inevitable".

It says many people "feel that party politics is somehow at odds with the public interest ... while this mood of suspicion of party politics prevails, it is likely to colour people's views of politicians' behaviour".

The research also found that 75% of people thought that national politicians should accept a "certain level of media interest in their private lives".

The report says that people aged 18-24 were more likely than other age groups to advocate the right to privacy.

The research also found that while people might not trust parts of the media, they do think it is much more likely than "official channels" to uncover wrongdoing.

It found that while often critical, people generally thought that public life in Britain had at least as high standards as the European average.