9th October 2025 Comment How Scotland should be governed
When the Scottish Parliament first met on 1 July 1999, the public had high expectations. As many as 81% told the first Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey that year that they trusted the new institution to work in Scotland’s best interests ‘just about always’ or ‘most of the time’. Meanwhile, 64% anticipated that the new […]
18th September 2024 Comment Economic issues Expectations of constitutional change
One of the key debates during the campaign for the 2014 independence referendum, whose 10th anniversary is marked today, was about the implications of independence for Scotland’s membership of the EU. ‘Yes’ campaigners argued that the country would be able seamlessly to remain part of the EU. ‘No’ advocates, in contrast, argued Scotland would have […]
13th October 2023 Comment Elections, parties & leaders How Scotland should be governed
The SNP leader, Humza Yousaf, faces a difficult party conference in Aberdeen, where his party will round off the autumn party conference season next week. Over the last couple of months the level of support for the SNP at a Westminster election has stood on average at just 36%, the lowest level it has been […]
4th May 2023 Comment How Scotland should be governed National identity and cultural issues
The coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Westminster Abbey on Saturday has unsurprisingly generated a considerable amount of polling on attitudes towards the monarchy in recent week. Much of that has been Britain-wide. However, there has also been some polling of Scotland alone that allows us to examine attitudes north of the […]
27th April 2023 Comment Elections, parties & leaders How Scotland should be governed
The arrest on 5 April of Peter Murrell, until recently the Chief Executive of the SNP, in connection with allegations about the possible misuse of funds collected by the SNP in 2017 to promote independence has given rise to much speculation about the possible impact of the story on the fortunes of the SNP (see, […]
11th April 2023 Comment Elections, parties & leaders How Scotland should be governed
One of the key developments in Scottish electoral politics over the last decade has been a strengthening of the relationship between constitutional preference and party choice. Those who support independence have come overwhelmingly to support the SNP, while those who are opposed have become disinclined to do so. According to the Scottish Social Attitudes survey, […]
14th March 2023 Comment Elections, parties & leaders
SNP members are now voting for the next leader of the SNP. Following a tough interrogation by Sky News’ Political Editor, Beth Rigby last night, tonight the contenders will debate each other in front of a live audience on BBC1 Scotland. The polls suggest there is everything to play for, at least so far as […]
16th February 2023 Comment Elections, parties & leaders
Scottish Labour meet in Edinburgh this weekend in better heart than for a long time. The party outpolled the Conservatives in last May’s local elections, the first time it had done so in a Scotland-wide ballot since 2016. Almost every poll conducted since the beginning of last year has suggested that the party has now […]
14th December 2022 Comment Elections, parties & leaders How Scotland should be governed The Scottish independence referendum
The Supreme Court judgement that the Scottish Parliament does not have the legal authority to hold a referendum on independence was widely welcomed by unionist politicians. However, so far at least, it seems to have undermined rather than underpinned the foundations of public support for the Union. Four polls of people’s vote intentions in a […]
22nd November 2022 Comment How Scotland should be governed Policy issues
One remarkable development during the COVID-19 pandemic was a marked if temporary increase in the level of support for independence. Every published opinion poll conducted between June 2020 and January 2021 had Yes ahead of No when people were asked how they would vote in response to the question that appeared on the referendum ballot […]
Explore the What UK Thinks website. Non-partisan information on UK attitudes to the EU before and since the EU Referendum.
