With seven prime ministers in ten years and the fragmentation of the two-party system, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that UK leaders struggle to hold on to their position. The World Bank ranks nations around the world on governance indicators – and its data show that, on certain metrics, voters in the UK may have good reason to be dissatisfied.

The World Bank has been collecting this data for the last 30 years. Each country on the list gets a score out of 100 on six dimensions of governance. These are “voice and accountability”, “political stability”, “government effectiveness”, “regulatory quality”, “rule of law”, and “control of corruption”. A high score means that a nation has good governance and a low score the opposite.

Some significant changes have occurred in three of these measures in the UK over this period. When it comes to “control of corruption”, “government effectiveness” and “political stability”, all of these have been declining. The remaining three have not changed much – and in the case of “voice and accountability”, not at all.

Corruption, stability and effective governance in the UK

The indicators show that the UK has become more corrupt, less stable and has a less effective government than in the 1990s. For example, political........

© The Conversation