An anonymised quantitative dataset that contains results for a survey on public perceptions of the UK government's response during the first wave (April 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic, with specific focus upon the relationship between trust and transparency. It contains data provided by 9,322 respondents aged 20 or over, who completed an online questionnaire between 6 and 22 April 2020. Responses indicate whether they consider the UK government to have made the correct decision, government priority, and their trust in government. It is accompanied by demographic information on the participant's age category, education level, gender, income level, region, and ethnicity, and the use of acceptable force. The only difference between this version (v2) and the previous (v1) is the addition of the acceptable_force column. Qualitative data for this study have not been made available due to the presence of sensitive and potentially disclosure information. See Methods section for information on data capture and analysis.

Results: Most respondents (95.1%) supported government enforcement of behaviour change. While 52.1% of respondents thought the government was making good decisions, differences were apparent across demographic groups, for example respondents from Scotland had lower odds of responding positively than respondents in London. Higher educational levels saw decreasing odds of having a positive opinion of the government response and decreasing household income associated with decreasing positive opinion. Of respondents who thought the government was not making good decisions 60% believed the economy was being prioritised over people and their health. Positive views on government decision-making were associated with positive views on government transparency about the COVID-19 response. Qualitative analysis about government transparency highlighted five key themes: (1) the justification of opacity due to the condition of crisis, (2) generalised mistrust of politics, (3) concerns about the role of scientific evidence, (4) quality of government communication and (5) questions about political decision-making processes. Conclusion We recommend targeted community engagement tailored to different groups’ experiences and a focus on accountability and openness around how decisions are made in the response to the UK COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19, TRUST, UK, Government, Transparancy, Mixed methods, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus