ANDY BURNHAM’S new government faces crises that feel “different in character to the cycles of political dissatisfaction we have seen before,” new research warned today.

Public demands for a change to the economic system are “acute” with more than four in five Britons believing the country is heading in the wrong direction and major changes are needed — up from 55 per cent in 1989, an Ipsos study found.

Only 26 per cent of people believe that the best people rise to the top regardless of their start in life, down from more than half in 1989.

More than three in 10 think the national character is pessimistic now compared to 20 per cent in 1988 and only one in five believe politicians are good people, down from 35 per cent in 1989, the pollster found.

Ipsos managing director Trinh Tu said: “What is worrying is that pessimism risks becoming more embedded in Britons’ sense of national identity.”

The pollster’s senior director of UK Politics Gideon Skinner added people “still want to believe in the principles of a shared social contract, but they no longer trust that the system is honouring its side of the bargain … the public’s desire for change is now acute.”

A spokesperson for left campaign Momentum said: “The collapse in public confidence shows what happens when consecutive governments fail to offer the policies needed to fix years of austerity and decline.”

Communist Party general secretary Alex Gordon said: “Media handwringing over the breakdown of British voters’ deference to our political rulers harks back to a supposed golden age that never existed.

“Hope and optimism will only come from a real political alternative to take control of the economy through nationalisation, invest in new green technologies and a foreign policy independent from the US and Nato.”

Your Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “There is a reason why we have moved on to our seventh prime minister in a decade: every single one has failed to bring about a redistribution of wealth and power.

“Every single one has failed to tackle the crises that affect ordinary people.

“Every single one has failed to end the grotesque levels of inequality in this country. Until a government actually addresses the fundamental economic roots of society’s problems, the merry-go-round will continue.”