Poland’s Political Trust Landscape: A UK-Style Overview of CBOS and IBRiS Findings
A nationwide portrait shows President Andrzej Duda leading the trust rankings for October, with Rafał Trzaskowski and Szymon Hołownia tied for second and Mateusz Morawiecki close behind in third. The CBOS survey highlights who Polish people trust—and who they distrust the most.
In October, Duda remained the figure with the highest level of confidence among respondents. Fifty-one percent expressed trust in the head of state, a slight drop of two percentage points from September. Meanwhile, thirty-nine percent indicated distrust, up by four points in the same period.
Trzaskowski repeated his second-place standing. CBOS data show that forty-two percent of respondents trust the Warsaw mayor, up by one point, while forty percent do not trust him, down by one point.
Hołownia and Morawiecki shared third place in the trust rankings, each garnering forty percent confidence. Hołownia’s support rose by five points, while Morawiecki’s trust dipped by one point. A majority still expressed confidence in Duda as the head of state, with the government facing mixed perceptions in this cycle.
The fourth position was a tie between Mariusz Błaszczak, the defense minister, and Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the ruling party. According to CBOS, thirty-six percent of people expressed trust in these politicians, while thirty-seven percent did not trust the defense minister. Among Kaczyński’s supporters, distrust stood at fifty-five percent, up by two points.
Further down the ladder, the head of PSL, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, received thirty-five percent trust and twenty-eight percent distrust; the co-chair of the New Left, Robert Biedroń, had thirty-four percent trust and forty-one percent distrust. Among party leaders, Donald Tusk and Elżbieta Witek each reached a similar trust threshold, thirty-three and thirty-five percent respectively, with distrust at fifty-two and fifty-five percent for Tusk and Witek’s figures changing slightly compared with the previous month.
Other notable figures included Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro with thirty-two percent trust and fifty-two percent distrust, and Senate President Tomasz Grodzki with twenty-six percent trust and thirty-five percent distrust. The October results also highlighted confidence levels for Przemysław Czarnek and Mariusz Kamiński, both high-profile interior ministry figures, alongside Jacek Sasin, all showing notable gaps between trust and distrust in their public profiles.
In the distrust rankings, Jarosław Kaczyński topped the list with fifty-five percent distrust. Donald Tusk and Zbigniew Ziobro followed closely at fifty-two percent, while Mateusz Morawiecki appeared at forty-nine percent distrust. These patterns reflect a volatile public mood around leadership and policy direction in the current climate.
The study used a mixed-method approach on a representative sample of adult Polish residents drawn from national registers, conducted between early and mid-October with a sample size just over one thousand respondents. The methodology emphasized broad geographic and demographic coverage to ensure a realistic snapshot of public trust in politics and governance.
IBRiS produced a parallel trust ranking for Onet in October. Warsaw’s Rafał Trzaskowski led with forty-eight point nine percent trust, followed by Szymon Hołownia at forty-five percent and Andrzej Duda at forty-one point five percent. This set of results shows Trzaskowski enjoying the strongest favorable sentiment among the public in that monthly window, with Hołownia rising quickly and Duda maintaining solid, if weaker, support compared with the previous period.
IBRiS notes that Trzaskowski’s approval reached forty-eight point nine percent, reflecting a notable gain versus September. Hołownia’s momentum showed a robust rise of almost nineteen points in positive assessments, reaching forty-five percent confidence. Duda stood at forty-one point five percent, a modest decline from the prior month, signaling shifting public priorities as events unfold.
According to the same polls, Tusk fell out of the podium position, slipping to fourth with about forty percent confidence, while Kosiniak-Kamysz maintained a strong showing at roughly forty percent as well. Biedroń entered the top tier with around thirty-four percent confidence, though distrust remained high. Morawiecki’s ranking remained competitive, but his public trust hovered around the mid-thirties, with distrust near the high fifties, underscoring the persistent challenge for the government in this period.
In this October snapshot, Czarnek and Ziobro remained among the most scrutinized figures, with Ziobro drawing low trust and high distrust from the public. Ziobro’s overall reception reflected broader concerns about the leadership of the justice ministry and its policy directions. The state of play among other ministries and party leaders painted a complex, rapidly shifting landscape for national politics and public opinion.
The surveys were fielded in late October across a broad national sample using standardized CATI interviews, aiming to capture a wide spectrum of voices on trust and distrust in political leaders. The results provide a nuanced picture of how Polish voters perceive performance and intentions across the political spectrum, highlighting persistent divides and emerging shifts as the political calendar moves forward.
For readers seeking deeper context, the October data continue to illustrate how trust levels can diverge sharply between institutions and individuals, underscoring the importance of ongoing, up-to-date polling to understand the evolving political environment in Poland.
Related coverage: trust rankings and leadership assessments across leading figures in Polish politics, with ongoing updates as new data become available.